


New Beginnings and Second Chances

by LittleMissXanda



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-20
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-11-14 17:06:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 93,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissXanda/pseuds/LittleMissXanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Final Battle had ended, but the price payed was far too high. Seeing Harry lose the will to live Fawkes gave him a gift, an opportunity to have the life he always wanted. Now Harry just had to choose to accept it and find the strength to keep living.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> A.N.: Idea for the first few chapters is based on eternal cosmo's 'the world without me'.
> 
> I did ask if I could use it and was given permission. That said, if you continue to read my story I hope that you don't expect my story to stay like 'the world without me', though the first chapters are similar, by chapter 10 it will have lost any similarities to it.
> 
> $ Parseltongue $
> 
> * Fawkes Talking *

**Chapter 1 – New Beginnings**

The war, contrary to what was speculated, did not last long but it was immensely devastating.

After the battle at the ministry, that became know as the first battle, the Wizarding World divided itself, some against Voldemort others for. Those that were a part of the first rise to power of Voldemort stated that not even the first war was that violent and bloody. Loyalties became public knowledge and Death Eaters walked the streets with pride.

Muggle hunting became a daily occurrence and something like a sport for Tom's followers.

The Order of the Phoenix lead by Albus Dumbledore did everything it could to protect the people from Voldemort and his followers, however Dumbledore's reluctance in using deadly force cost the life of many members the first few months.

Some of the students having had enough of the devastation caused by the Death Eaters and having no way of fighting back started training and quickly Hogwarts classes were forgotten and they spent their time training and fighting.

After a few months those students were named "Hunters" by their adversaries, a name they lived up to.

It quickly changed from being a war between Good and Evil, Light and Dark, and started being a fight for survival. When you weren't the predator you were the pray, and when you weren't the pray you were the predator.

When Dumbledore fell, Voldemort believed he had free reign and went for Hogwarts. Knowing what he was planing all those that opposed him joined forces on Hogwarts grounds, and all those that could not fight because of age or injury, whether they were light or dark, seeked refuge inside Hogwarts believing it to be the only safe place left.

And so, a little more than a year after the first battle, what was left of the wizards and witches of Great-Britain were all assembled on Hogwarts grounds preparing for the Final Battle.

Voldemort had always liked dramatic entrances, so he decided to announce his arrival with a "bang" and in a matter of seconds Hogwarts, a castle that had existed for a millennium, together with all those inside were the first victims of the Final Battle. The fight that followed was long and bloody, and in the end all that was left were fields bathed in blood and covered by corpses. The Final Battle had ended, but the price payed was far too high.

* * *

Harry felt sore but he didn't really know why, until suddenly the last few hours came back to him. With difficulty he tried to stand up and look at the devastation that surrounded him. Corpses of friends and enemies were all around him, and for the first time in a long time he cried. His entire world was there, dead at his feet, what he wouldn't give to be one of them. What he wouldn't give not to be the only survivor, but all that was left was Death.

Devastated by the destruction he pointed his wand on himself and said the words that would grand him freedom and peace.

"Avada Ke..."

_$ Human STOP! $_

Without him noticing Voldemort's giant snake had sneaked up on him, apparently he wasn't the only survivor.

_$ Nagini, did you come to kill me like your human ordered you to? $_

_$ Nagini? Who is Nagini? I don't have a human. I remember being hunting and suddenly I'm here. With death and blood everywhere. I remember a human, he told me to do things and I obeyed, but I didn't want to. $_

Harry couldn't believe it, Voldemort had his snake under the imperius, the animal was just another innocent victim.

_$ That human is dead. You can leave. $_

_$ You're going to leave me human? $_

_$ My name is Harry. And look around you. There is nobody left, it's better if I joined them... $_

Faster than he believed possible the snake was around his torso and arm, making it impossible to move his wand hand.

_$ I lived Harry. I don't want to be alone, without even a name. $_

Before Harry had the chance to say anything, they heard a melody that broke his heart and left his soul felling lighter at the same time. With more tears in his eyes Harry looked to the sky where the majestic figure of the fire bird was. His song cried about the lives lost, and futures that would never be. He flew to them and Harry noticed that he had a egg in his claws. He stayed floating in front of them until Harry lifted his hands and Fawkes put the egg in them. As soon as the egg touched his hands he felt a wave of magic hit him and flow trough his body. Fawkes seemed satisfied and for the first time in his life Harry heard it's voice.

_* Like all those that were lost today on these grounds, that creature will never have an opportunity to have a future if you decide to join them. *_

"But Fawkes how can I stay? I lost everything."

_* Harry you don't need to stay here. Do you remember a spell Albus told you about? It was right after Sirius's death... *_

"But it's impossible!"

_* Don't worry. I just need to merge with your other wand and you can use the spell, like that both you and the wand will be strong enough. *_

"What about you?"

_* I have already lived for thousand of years and part of me will live on in that egg, and the rest will always be with you in your wand.*_

With a heavy heart Harry called for all of his belongings and from the ruins of Hogwarts came his trunk and to his surprise Hedwig was following it.

"Hey girl. I'm happy to see you are alright."

_* Oh, it's almost time...*_

Before Harry could ask what he meant he heard the egg crack. It took a few moments but Harry could see a little head start poking out of the egg. Harry thought the little bird looked a little like Fawkes after a burning day, but the little bird already had a few feathers, they appeared to be black and green and seemed to have an almost metallic sheen and a scale like pattern. It opened it's little eyes and Harry could see they were a brilliant green identical to his, they glowed red for a moment and went back to green. To Harry it looked like a really strange phoenix. As if reading his thoughts Fawkes said.

_* She is a hybrid between a basilisk and a phoenix. The first of her kind, your new familiar. In a month she will be able to talk to you, she's to young now. Besides, it's time for you to leave. Name your new familiars and it's time to go. *_

_$ What do you think of the name Umbra? $_

_$ Can I really go with you? $_

_$ Of course. You are my familiar. $_

_$ Then I'll be Umbra from now on master. $_

_$ You can continue to call me Harry. $_

"And you? What should I call you little one? What do you think of Licentia? Yes, Licentia fells right."

And so Harry was ready to leave. With his phoenix feather wand in his hand, his other wand in his wand holster, his trunk shrunk on a necklace around his neck and with Umbra around his torso, Hedwig on his shoulder and Licentia in his left hand close to his body Harry told Fawkes he was ready to go.

_* Very well, don't forget that you will land where the me from that world will be and there is no way to return to this world. I hope you find peace Harry. *_

Looking around himself one last time Harry chanted the spell.

" _Astrum Perennis Libertos_."

As soon as he finished Fawkes vanished in a bright light and Harry felt his wand grow hot and suddenly he felt like he was falling and the world around him was swallowed by darkness.


	2. The Unexpected Visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

**Chapter 2 – The Unexpected Visitor**

Summer vacation were almost at an end and a new year at Hogwarts was beginning. Albus Dumbledore had just ended a meeting with his professors about the new school year and he was now starting a completely different meeting. He had dismissed all those professors who weren't a part of the Order, and now he was waiting for the rest to arrive.

Already there were James and Lily Potter, they were never the same again after the death of their son Harry. Lily couldn't have anymore children and James still blamed himself for want happened. Since then they dedicated themselves to the Order and Hogwarts with everything they had. Lily was the Ancient Runes professor and James the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Sirius Black was there as well. The death of his godson hit him hard, when he wasn't helping James with his Defense classes or on a mission for the Order, he spent his time in his animagus form, it helped him escape the pain he felt.

Remus Lupin wasn't much better, his friends and his job as History of Magic professor were amongst the few things that gave him joy, the wolf in him still cried for it's cub.

Severus Snape was also present. After he refused to continue to serve the Dark Lord he sought refuge at Hogwarts and joined the Order of the Phoenix. He was now the Potions Master.

Before Albus could lose himself in his memories the door to his office opened and Minerva McGonagall the Transfiguration professor, Filius Flitwick the Charms professor, Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, Kingsley Shackelbolt, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Bill and Charlie Weasley, Nymphandora Tonks and Alice and Frank Longbottom entered. With the main members of the order present Albus started the meeting.

"Thank you for coming. I know these are difficult times but we have to make sure that we have all our safety measures active before the students arrive. And I would also like the reports from our last mission, it is extremely..."

What Albus was going to say next was lost because at that precise moment a bright white light appeared suddenly in the office, and mere seconds after disappeared just as quickly as it appeared and in it's place, on the floor of Albus Dumbledore's office, was the body of a boy with a snake around his torso, an owl near his shoulder and a bird that looked similar to a phoenix nestled against his chest, and the boy seemed to be unconscious.

For a few seconds nobody spoke, after that it was complete chaos.

* * *

For the first time in many years Albus was confused, how had that boy entered his office? And all the noise that his colleagues were making wasn't helping him at all.

"Silence!"

Those present quickly fell silent and looked at Albus expectantly.

"Alastor, stun the boy and the animals that are with him before they wake up."

"Albus..."

"Yes, Severus?"

"That serpent, it belongs to the Dark Lord."

That simple sentence caused panic to spread trough the room. They all knew how deadly the Dark Lord's familiar was. Albus sighted, the night promised to be a long one.

"Silence. Calm down. Severus go get the veritaserum, Alastor make sure that they are really all stunned. James, Sirius check his pockets and take his wand."

They wasted no time in following the orders that they received. However James and Sirius encountered difficulties almost immediately. They could take nothing out of the boy's pockets and when they tried to force it they felt their hands start to burning.

"Very well, at least take his wand."

"Albus, he has two wands, one is in a holster on his right arm and the other on the left arm."

"Then take both of them James..."

"I'm trying Albus, but I can't, it seems it has a protection similar to the one on is pockets."

"And that isn't all. Look at those wands, they are rather strange."

"Strange how Sirius?"

"One is bone white but it has lines running trough it, they seem to be a metallic green, and it appears to have something engraved in it that I can't make out. The other one is similar, but it's red with golden lines, it also has an engraving, but I can't see it clearly."

That caught Albus interest, he had never heard of wands like that and why did that boy have such unique wands? And two of them. Generally when a wizard has a secondary wand it is a more generic one because normally a wizard doesn't bond with a second one that well, unless it was custom made, but those were rather rare and not everybody could afford them. The boy appeared to be a mystery. Unfortunately they lived in times were being a mystery could be something dangerous.

"Albus, here is the veritaserum."

"Thank you my boy. Filius could you cast the ' _veritas_ ' spell? So we don't have to wake him, the spell will compel him to talk, even if he is unconscious, better safe than sorry as the saying goes. Lily could you register everything we ask him and what he answers, in case we have a problem."

They carefully sat the boy on a chair and gave him the veritaserum, while Filius cast the ' _veritas_ ' spell. The spell and the potion were rather similar, veritaserum would force you to answer truthfully to the questions, the ' _veritas_ ' spell on the other hand didn't force you tell the truth, if you didn't speak the spell wouldn't force you to, but if you did speak it would be nothing but the truth and as a plus side the spell could be used on someone who wasn't conscious. Albus knew that many students used the spell as a prank, when their roommates where talking in their sleep. As soon as it was cast, Albus didn't lose time and asked the question they were all thinking about.

"Are you here following orders from Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

"Do you work for Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"No."

"Do you support Lord Voldemort in any way?"

"No."

Those present breathed in relief, they may still not know who the boy was but it made them feel safer knowing that he wasn't with the Dark Lord.

"But that doesn't tell us what he is doing with that snake." Snape exclaimed, and everyone could see that he was clearly agitated. Nobody could really blame him, they knew the price payed by those that betrayed the Dark Lord, and they had all seen what that snake could do.

"I know Severus, calm down. I will ask more questions now. Did the Ministry send you?"

"No."

"Do you have a snake with you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"She is my familiar."

"What is her name?"

"Umbra."

The shock was evident on their faces. The boy had to be bad news, he had a serpent as a familiar, and he called it _darkness_ , yes they were certain he was bad news.

"How did you come to be here?"

"A spell."

"Who taught you the spell?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

Silence was the only thing that followed that answer. They knew that the boy was telling the truth, but it couldn't be true. Even so Albus couldn't stop himself from asking the next question.

"What was the spell?"

" _Astrum Perennis Libertos_."

Both Albus and Filius looked at the boy shocked, but they seemed to be the only ones that knew what the spell was. Filius started muttering under his breath, and only a few words like 'unthinkable', 'no record', 'never done' and 'impossible' could be heard. Albus on the other hand was looking ate the boy with a new perspective.

Frank ended up losing his patient and said. " I think I speak for most of those present when I say: what the hell is going on?"

That seemed to bring Albus back to reality and he did his best to explain, however he couldn't quite hide the curiosity and astonishment in his voice. "There are several theories that say that there exist several world parallel to our own. A world or several worlds where there exist other versions of ourselves. For example, in this world Voldemort is a Dark Lord, in a parallel world there could be no Dark Lord, or the Dark Lord could be a different person. The theory is that there are hundreds of those worlds and with that in mind a spell was created that could, theoretically, take us to those worlds, but, theoretically, it only allowed people to go and not to come back. The spell was created in Atlantis, every time someone tried the spell the person died. They thought it best to give up because it became apparent that a single person did not have enough magical power to cast it. It became a simple wish, a dream. Trough out history there have been people that wanted to achieve the impossible, there are records of people trying and failing even in these days. The spell to jump from one world to the other is: _Astrum Perennis Libertos_."

"Albus, are you trying to say that this kid came from a parallel world?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"Yes, if so many people failed how would he have been able? It's impossible." stated James, looking at Albus as if he had told them that Voldemort had decided to pursue a career as a ballet dancer.

"Well, there is a simple way to know the truth," Albus said, and turning back to the boy on the chair asked, "did you come from a parallel world?"

"Yes."

Saying that those present were bewildered would have been the understatement of the century, yet Albus had a little smile on his face.

"What is your name?"

"Harry James Potter."

Again silence followed that answer and, almost unconsciously, the Potter's, Sirius and Remus approached the chair were the boy was.

"Albus, the veritaserum must be faulty. It's impossible. It can't be true. How can it be true?"

"Lily, the veritaserum isn't faulty. He is in fact Harry James Potter, or at least a version of Harry James Potter. Let me just ask a few more questions."

"When were you born?"

"On the 31st of July of 1980."

"Who are your parents?"

"James and Lily Potter"

"Why did you come here?"

"..."

"The answer is to complex Albus. You know that if there is more than one possible answer to questions or if the one questioned isn't sure of the answer he won't be able to answer. And the effect of the veritaserum is almost over. Maybe it would be better to end it here." Snape informed him.

"Yes, you are right Severus, it is better to take him and his pets to the infirmary and let Poppy look them over. We still have many thing to discuss, it appears that it is going to be a long night."


	3. Chapter 3 – Same faces, Different People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

**Chapter 3 – Same faces, Different People**

Just as Albus had ordered it, Harry was sent to the infirmary and his pets were on a bed by his side.

Madam Pomfrey looked him over, and she said that he appeared to be exhausted but other than that he was fine. They tried to take his clothes of but just like with his wands they weren't able to. Since James, Lily, Sirius and Remus seemed reluctant to leave the boy's side, Albus agreed to continue the meeting in the infirmary.

They went trough the usual things quicker than normal and finally reached what they were all wanting to discuss.

"Now we just need to decided how we are going to deal with young Mr. Potter."

"What do you mean Albus? He's our son, it's a second chance for us..."

"Lily, nobody said he wasn't your son. But we don't know anything about him. In his world things could be different. He could be allied with You-Know-Who, I know that he said under veritaserum that he wasn't, but he could have a different name in their world, or it may even be someone worse. We have to take precautions and be careful."

"Frank's right. I think we should sent the kid back and be done with it." Moody grumbled.

After that declaration pandemonium broke trough the room and Albus saw that four of his favorite students had recuperated some of their fire. But all the shouting was helping no one and he was rather glad that he had cast a silencing charm around them, or they would have woken the boy up by now.

"Calm down. Nobody is going anywhere," Albus told them, "As I told you before, the spell is only one way. It is not possible to send him back to his world..."

"But Albus, the boy should have died. The magical strength needed for the spell, it's unthinkable. And he is only 17. I don't see how it was possible."

"Filius, we have to assume that he is magically strong enough to sustain the spell."

"How strong would that be exactly Albus?" inquired Moody, those that knew him well could hear a little of apprehension in his tone.

"I don't know old friend, I don't know. But I do know that I couldn't sustain the spell."

"That's absurd Albus," Minerva exclaimed, looking quite agitated, "He is a child, it's impossible. Someone must have done the spell for him."

"Maybe, I fear we will only obtain more answers when young Harry wakes up. We have to decide where he is going to stay..."

"He will stay with us," interrupted Lily, "he is our son."

"Very well, when he wakes up, we will talk more about it. Let's conclude the meeting, we all had a long night. If you want to stay in the castle you are all welcome. Have a good night."

Saying good-night they left the infirmary one by one, all but four.

The two Potters, Sirius and Remus, all sat around the bed where their son and godson from another world was lying. They still couldn't believe it. It was so hard to believe it was true, but a part of them wanted to believe it so much that it hurt. They were afraid that if they took their eyes of him he would disappear and crush all their hope that they really were gifted with a second chance.

"He looks like me, don't you think?" James ended up asking, not able to contain himself.

"He has darker hair Prongs, but yeah, he kinda does."

"Moony's right, his hair is really dark, completely black."

"What about his eyes? Our Harry's eyes used to look so much like mine..."

"Lily..."

"I know James, but what if they are right? Look at his familiar and the name he gave it."

"Lily, we know nothing about him, we don't know the kind of live he had," Remus told her, "We don't know if in his world serpents were associated with the same things. We have to wait for him to wake up. Besides, his smell is familiar."

"Moony is right, we have to wait for him to wake up, but he is my godson. He may not be the godson our Harry would have turned out to be, but he is still my godson."

"Just as he is still our son."

"You're right James, I just hope that he accepts us. We may be nothing like the parents he had in his world."

Silence was the only thing that followed Lily's words. And so they spend the night beside their son and godson, waiting anxiously for him to wake up.

* * *

It was almost lunch time when Sirius saw Harry moving and groaning.

"Moony, he's waking up. Prongs, Lily, Harry's waking up."

The other three, that had been having a little nap after spending the whole night up, woke up rather abruptly and focused on the boy in the bed and they saw that he really was waking up. He tried to open his eyes but he quickly closed them again because of the light.

"Argh... Poppy," they heard him mumbled, making them smile, "No matter what I do, I always end up here..." he muttered, "Wonder what I did this time..."

It seemed obvious to those watching that he was still half asleep. However that didn't last long, only a few seconds after he moved so quickly that they almost missed it, one second he was lying in bed the next he was standing besides it, his wand in hand and aiming at them.

Harry looked around him and when his eyes landed on Sirius he felt his heart stop. There, in front of him were Padfoot and Moony, alive and well. And before he could think about what he was doing he let go of his wand and hugged them.

"Padfoot, Moony... I'm sorry... Sirius, I'm really sorry, I didn't want to... It was all my fault Moony. I'm sorry." Harry wasn't even aware of what he was saying, he wasn't thinking. He just acted, forgetting for a moment that these Sirius and Remus were not the ones he had known in his world.

The adults present didn't know what to do. But they didn't need to do anything, as fast as it had happened, Harry let them go and they could see that he had a little blush on his cheeks.

"I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over me."

Remus was the first one to react, he was always able to have a level head when everybody around him was panicking, "It is no problem at all, you have to be a little disoriented. How do you feel?"

Harry laughed, the four adults loved the sound, and answered, "I've been worse Moony. Where are my familiars?"

"Ah... they are on a bed, over there. We had to stun them..."

But apparently Harry wasn't listening to him anymore. They saw him pointing his hand at his pets and to their amazement they woke up.

"Hey Hedwig, how are you girl? Everything alright?"

They were quite shocked when the owl hooted, nibbled on Harry's finger and practically forced him to pet her. It was a rather peculiar behavior for an owl.

"I'm glad you're fine girl. And I see you're fine to Umbra, I'm sorry, I didn't know they were going to stun you, when we leave Poppy's care I'll give you a big juicy rat. Licentia, you alright? You're probably hungry, thirsty to. I'm gonna see if I can find something for you."

The others in the room were finding the situation rather amusing, the snake didn't seem as menacing as before and Harry looked like a normal 17 year old. They noticed Harry turn around and look a them attentively.

"Suppose the spell worked then, I really wasn't expecting it too. And you are all here. It's hard to believe it's true. I'm happy to see that you are all well. I really don't know what to say, I... I wasn't expecting to see you all so soon. You obviously know who I am, so I suppose there's no need to introduce myself, tough it would be the polite thing to do..." Harry hadn't even noticed that he was rambling, however before he could continue with it he was enveloped in two pairs of arms. It was a new sensation for him, he couldn't remember either of his parents hugging him. He admitted to himself that he quite liked it, until that moment he hadn't realized how much he wanted it.

"Oh Harry, we never thought..."

"We're so happy..."

"Ah, I see that our young friend woke up."

The five already inside the infirmary looked to where the voice came from, none of them to happy with having their little reunion interrupted.

Albus, Kingsley and Moody were by the door of the infirmary observing them. Harry wanted to laugh when he saw them together. Apparently some things never changed, no matter the world. James and Lily let go of him and he turned to face the newcomers.

"Good afternoon professor. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Ah, well, you know Harry..."

"Hey! Who woke the creatures up?" interrupted Moody before Albus could say anything else.

"The _creatures_ , are my familiars. And I'm the one who woke them up, I don't appreciate that my familiars were stunned. Specially Licentia, she's still a baby, it could hurt her."

"I am sorry about that Harry, it was my fault, we couldn't take any chances. It won't happen again."

"It's no problem. They are fine. Now I suppose that you have some questions?"

"Yes, we do. However first we want to know why you came here."

"Professor, I didn't even know if the spell was going to work, I was kind of expecting it not to, to be completely honest. But if you are asking why this world, I have no idea. Maybe because it's the most similar to my own world, or maybe it's the most compatible with me. I believe we will never now for sure."

"Very well. And what plans do you have?"

"Plans?"

"Yes, you have to have some plans coming here. If I'm not mistaken you turned 17 a little while ago, you should be starting your seventh year at Hogwarts."

"Honestly I hadn't even thought about it. I didn't even know if it would work, so I had absolutely no plans. And I haven't been to school for technically a year, going back to classes wasn't something that even crossed my mind..."

"But finishing your education is important Harry." interrupted Lily.

And suddenly the seventeen year old boy standing before them, that looked a little like James, with eyes similar to Lily's, disappeared. In front of them was a man, with cold eyes and a hard look on his face. His eyes shone with power and he had a haunted look in them that no teenager should have. When he spoke his voice contained power and demanded attention and obedience.

"Sometimes, it isn't in school that they teach what we need to learn."

And then he smiled and just as fast as it appeared the image disappeared, leaving those present wondering if it had been their imagination.

"Plans... I had thought I could spend a little time with my parents and godfathers. If they want of course..."

"Of course we want to!" the four exclaimed gaining a smile from Harry.

"I don't see a problem with that. However they are all professors here and classes start in a week. You would have to stay in the castle to spend time with them, you may frequent their classes if you wish, even if it's only to pass the time. You are free to go to the other classes as well if you wish."

"Thank you for your offer professor. I suppose that Kingsley and Mad-Eye are going to keep an eye on me?"

"Well..."

"It's no problem professor. I would have done the same. Constant Vigilance, right Moody? I really don't want to be rude but I don't remember the last time I ate. Do you think it would be possible to have some lunch?"

"Of course, of course. Let's go then, we will have lunch in the Great Hall."

"Right. Umbra, you can go hunt in the forest, I'll meet you there later. Hedwig stay with Licentia ok? You can go flying and hunting, but take care of her for a while alright? You know where to find me if you need anything."

Having finished talking with his familiars, the seven wizards and one witch left the infirmary, seven of them paying close attention to their young companion.

* * *

Harry may not seem like it, but he was rather nervous. After all it wasn't every day that you get to see people, family and friends, that are, technically, dead. He tried not to think about it. He tried to enjoy the fact that he was at Hogwarts again, and that the castle was whole. He hadn't thought that he would see it like this again. It may have been a different castle, but he felt at home.

Before he knew it they were in the Great Hall and the Headmaster motioned him to a place at the head table. He sat between his father and Sirius, he didn't really know what to say. He was trying to control all his emotions, but it was so hard. What could he say to them? He had no idea. Although he was close to a breakdown, he held it together, promising himself that he could have a breakdown when he was alone. He could almost feel them by his side giving him strength, and arms wrapping around him, promising that everything would be ok. But everything wasn't ok and he was alone. Fortunately, before he could drown in his memories, his father initiated a conversation with him. Unfortunately it was about something he had no wish to speak about.

"In the infirmary you said you didn't study anymore, was it because of something special?"

Harry knew that all those present were trying to listen to his answer, and he didn't blame them. He was the one that landed in their world, coming from Merlin knows where. They had every right to want to know who he was, if he was a danger to them or not. They didn't trust him and Harry didn't trust them either, it was only natural after all, they were strangers. And he was certain that they would kill him if they knew just how dangerous he was, if they knew just what he was. Well, he didn't think Albus would kill him, but maybe lock him away. Whichever the case, he wasn't wiling to risk it, at least not now. On the other hand, he didn't wish to lie to these people, that appeared to have accepted him, even if it was only to make him more comfortable so that they could learn more about him, specially the Potter's, Sirius and Remus. Not wanting to lie, but unable to tell the true, he opted for part of the true.

"Yes, you could say that it were special circumstances."

"Such as?" James asked.

"Hmm, well, can you answer something first before I explain?" seeing his father, he felt rather strange thinking that, nod he continued, "Are you at war here? Does Voldemort exist here? Do Death Eaters exist? If you are at war, when did it start?"

 _Bravo Harry_ , he thought to himself, _great job shocking them enough to give them heart attacks_. Although in his defense he hadn't thought that they would be so shocked ate the use of Voldemort's name, though that did answer his question if Voldemort existed in this new world.

Though Albus looked rather stunned he answered his questions. "Yes, we have a Dark Lord that goes by the name Voldemort." Harry noticed that they seemed less shocked to hear Albus say the name, he had to wonder why that was. Maybe they were so used to him saying it that they didn't notice it anymore, but when other people said it they found it more shocking or something like that, he had absolutely no idea. "And his followers are called Death Eaters," continued Albus, "But we are not at war, there are attacks and they are brutal, however it isn't a daily occurrence, fortunately. And the Ministry hasn't declared state of war."

"It's better than I expected..." muttered Harry, talking more to himself than to those around him.

"What do you mean by that boy? Watch what you say, many good people lost their lives."

"Frank Longbottom," said Harry, looking in his direction with a small smile, "It's a pleasure seeing you. And I meant exactly what I said, it's better than I thought. Where I came from we were at war. There were attacks every day, people were dying left, right and center, that's the reason why I didn't attend classes anymore, and believe me, I wasn't the only one, we were at a point where classes weren't a priority."

"And your parents were alright with that? They didn't say anything?" asked Moony looking incredulous.

"My parents died on the 31st of October of 81. I grew up in Petunia's home. I didn't even know I was a wizard till I went to Hogwarts."

"With my sister? Who was the idiot that had the brilliant idea to put you with my sister?" asked Lily indignant.

Harry couldn't hold the laughter that bubbled in his chest and smiles appeared on the Potter's, Sirius and Remus's faces, they loved to hear him laugh, it was something they never thought they could experience.

"It was Dumbledore's brilliant idea. Moony told him that if you were alive that you would have had a similar reaction."

Harry's laughter was contagious and some of them joined him, while Lily blushed a little for having called the Headmaster an idiot, even if it was one from another world.

Wanting to keep the conversation to a lighter note James asked, "Do you play Quidditch?"

A smile spread trough Harry's face, they were back to safer territory, he could answer questions like these without having to analyze everything he said, it was quite tiresome to have to watch what you say and how you act the whole time, he didn't know how long it would take before he slipped and said something that would lead to questions being asked that he had no wish to answer.

"Of course. I was the youngest seeker in a century, I joined the team in first year. I miss flying."

"Oh no," Lily groaned exasperated, "Two Quidditch fanatics in the family."

"Like father like son." James said with a touch of smugness in his voice.

Some of those present couldn't help the smiles, it had been a long time since they had seen the Potter's that lively. They thought that the fact that the Potter's couldn't have anymore children after Harry's death, had made it harder for the couple. They never truly recovered, and seeing them laughing and joking with others were rather rare occasions. They just hoped that this Harry wouldn't break them, they hoped they could trust him.

Harry was happy, well, happy may be the wrong word but at least he wasn't feeling like he was breaking. He could smile a real smile, and feel joy at seeing James and Lily happy. But he was still to damaged to let himself truly be happy. The wounds he had were far to recent and far to deep. But maybe, maybe this was his chance, an opportunity he had to be happy. Maybe they could help him heal. He wanted so much to grasp this chance that Fawkes had given him, wanted so much to believe that he could be happy in this new world, however he didn't know if he would be capable of that. But he hoped he would be able to, he hoped he didn't have to fight again, he hoped there wouldn't be a war, he hoped he could truly overcome his past and be happy. However until the day came that that happened, he would pretend that he was happy, that he wasn't broken, that everything was ok.

The rest of the meal was rather uneventful, they talked a bit more, mostly about the classes each of them taught and they made Harry promise that he would attend at least one of each classes. Lily spend most of her time telling him to eat a bit more and James was already planning several Quidditch games.

Harry smiled and joked, but he couldn't keep the anxiousness at bay. They were, technically, his family but would they accept him? He knew he wasn't a light wizard, he knew as much dark magic as Voldemort. With the life he had chosen it was impossible to not have learned dark magic, he wasn't ashamed of it. But would his family accept it? Should he tell them now or risk getting closer and have them reject him later. At least now he didn't truly know them, it would be less painful. He withheld a sigh and continued his talk with James about Quidditch. His treacherous heart wouldn't let him tell them now, part of him wanted to know them even if it meant it would hurt him more in the future.

* * *

The week before classes begun was relatively calm. He spend his time with Lily, James, Sirius and Remus, talking with them, mostly about things of little importance, or reading when they were busy with preparations for classes.

Harry learned that the four friends lived in the castle, apparently his family couldn't handle his death and never left the castle. So Dumbledore offered them the professor positions and they made Hogwarts their home. Harry wanted to know what had happened to his other self, but neither the Potter nor Sirius and Remus would talk about it and he didn't want to push them. And since nobody that knew who he was felt comfortable talking to him and the newspaper's in the library only went back ten years he had no way of knowing what had happened.

He rather enjoyed the time he spend reading in the library. He noticed that some of the defense books were a little different to the ones from his world, special those about duels. He usually took a book, found a nice quiet corner by a window, sat on the floor and read his book in peace. And that was how Remus found him.

"Hey Remus." Harry greeted him without taking his eyes from the book.

"How did you know it was me?" asked Remus incredulous, because of his wolf he moved much more silently than most people and Harry hadn't even taken his eyes from the book.

"Hmm? Oh... I suppose that old habits die hard..."

Remus sighted, when they thought that they had found something out about Harry something new always showed up. He did everything he could to maintain the conversations about trivial matters and it was rare that he revealed something personal about himself. Remus understood that they were practically strangers, no matter how much Harry knew about many of them, but they wanted to know Harry so much. They wouldn't force him but that didn't change the fact that they wanted to know everything about him and not just trivial things like, he likes quidditch, his favorite color is blue and he adored treacle tart.

"That's quite an advanced book, it has things in it that surpasses that of seventh year." Remus commented, maybe his reading material would reveal something about him.

"I read it before, when I was in fifth year. But it has a few differences from the one in my world, especially in the duel tactics."

That had Remus's immediate attention. Reading that book, understanding it and being able to do what was in it wasn't easy. "You must have been rather studious to read that book in fifth year."

Harry surprised him by laughing.

"Studious? Nothing like that, to be honest I was rather lazy, sure, I had good grades, but it wasn't something I spent a lot of time with. No, I read the book because my two best friends convinced me to created an illegal defense group and named me the leader/teacher, and since there were members that were sixth and seventh years I had to know things to teach them."

"Illegal? Why was it illegal? And if there were older members why did you teach them?"

"It was illegal because we were forbidden from creating it, but, well my friends and I never really followed the rules, you know? If we did we would never have left Hogwarts in the middle of the night to raid the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry, would we? But well, we created fake galleons that we gave all our members and they had them always with them. They would heat up when the date and time of the meetings were set. Even when they did searches, they never found anything. We lead the whole operation right under their noses.

And I suppose that I was the one who taught them because I was the one with more experience."

Remus was astonished, it was the first time he could obtain so much information from Harry, but what did it all mean? He had to talk with James and with the others as well. He just didn't know what to make of all of it. He staid with Harry a little longer but as soon as he left he went in search of his friends.

Harry watched Remus go and released a sigh. He hoped he hadn't revealed to much. He had thought it over and concluded that it would be easier to tell them a few things, so that they could see that he wasn't a normal seventeen year old without having to outright say it. He just didn't know what to say and what not to say. He wasn't really sure it was the right choice and it was painfully obvious they wanted to know more about him, he just hoped it wouldn't backfire.

Remus found all three of them in James and Lily's quarters. They were going over some of the material they were going to use with the older students but stopped when they saw him enter their living room.

"I'm glad you're all here."

"What's wrong Moony?" asked James concerned, Remus looked a little out of it, which was rather strange for the usually compost werewolf.

"I was talking with Harry. James could you go get you pensive? I wanna show you the conversation, because I don't know what to think about it."

James did as he was asked and after a few moments they were all inside Remus's memory. Just a few moments after that they were back from the pensive, sitting around the table immersed in their own thoughts. Remus not standing the silence any longer exclaimed, "Well?"

James was the first out of his stupor.

"How does a teenager know about the Department of Mysteries?"

"And why the hell would they raid it?" asked Sirius to no one in particular.

"Exactly! And what experience did he have that the others didn't? And what habits did he have that made him so attuned to his surroundings? I just don't understand."

"You're not the only one. Lily, honey, what's wrong?"

"Didn't you notice? The method that he described, the words he used. The galleons that heat up, terms like ' _members_ ', ' _organization_ ', it doesn't remind you of anything? The Death Eater's Dark Marks... And why would they forbid a study group? And that book has nothing that is asked in exams..."

"Lily, are you suggesting..."

"I don't know James. But there is so much that doesn't make sense."

"When he's ready he will tell us."

"Do you really think so James?"

"I want to believe it Sirius. I don't have another choice."

And they spend the rest of their afternoon with a teenager with green eyes on their mind.

* * *

On September the first, Harry woke up earlier than usual. No matter what he did his nightmares haunted his dreams several times a week. Knowing he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep Harry spend some time with his familiars and asked them to stay in his room, especially Caliga, because the students would be back that day. Seeing as it was rather early, and the inhabitants of the castle appeared to still be asleep, he used the opportunity to train a little. He hadn't trained since he arrived and he was starting to feel like he was rusting.

He put on some sweatpants and a t-shirt and went outside. He started by doing four laps around the lake, then he stretched and finally he started his various martial arts training, that he had learned because of the war.

Without him noticing several people were observing him from the castle, fascinated with how graceful his movements were. To those watching it looked like a beautiful dance, deathly but beautiful nonetheless.

After three hours Harry concluded his training and went back to the castle. When he arrived at the entrance hall there were people waiting for him.

"Hello Harry."

"Good morning dad, mom. Hey Sirius, Remus. You're up early."

"We? Kid you were the one out there before the sun was up." Sirius answered him with a big smile on his face.

"It was already up when I went out." informed him Harry, with a smile just as big on his face.

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing special. Just some light training... You know how it is..."

"Of course, son. Go get a shower, so we can have breakfast together."

"Alright, I won't be long." he said, giving Lily and James a hug and going in the direction of his rooms.

The four adults went in the opposing direction for a meeting with the Headmaster, adding another piece of information to the long list of things they didn't understand about Harry.

"Ah, glad you arrived."

"Good morning Headmaster." greeted the four, taking their seats around the Headmaster's desk.

"Good morning, good morning. Well, as all of you know Harry is going to stay in the castle, but he isn't going to go to classes regularly. He told us that he hadn't been to classes in approximately a year, however I invited him to attend the seventh year classes. We don't know anything about his magical strength or knowledge, since he arrived he hasn't used magic, so I ask that you pay attention in your classes to see what he is able to do and what he knows. The professors that don't belong to the order think he is James's cousin, who is attending a few classes only, and only occasionally because he was home-schooled. And since his parents passed away and he doesn't have any other relatives he came to stay with James. I don't think that we will be able to hide for long the fact that he is your son, but at least we can delay it as long as possible. The other professors will give detailed information on his abilities if he decides to go to their classes.

I also want you to pay close attention today at the feast."

"Why at the feast Headmaster?" inquired Frank.

"Because based on the reaction he has to the students we may find out who his friends were in his world. Maybe it will help us with figuring out what kind of person he is."

Although the four friends didn't like the idea, they admitted that it was a good way to learn more about Harry, and besides nothing forced them to give the Order every little piece of information they learned.

The rest of the day was spend making sure that they had everything ready for the students arrival. While the professors went back and forth Harry was laying by the lake. He was a little nervous, he was going to see his friends again. Although these people weren't his friends, they hadn't lived trough the same things, they hadn't had the same life. They were strangers looking like the people he loved. He tried not thinking about it, but every time he did he couldn't help but finding it more cruel than anything he could think of, it was a constant reminder of what he had lost.

The hour of the feast arrived faster than he would have liked but now there was nothing he could do. He was seated at the head table, between Frank Longbottom and James, waiting for the students to arrive.

It didn't take long for the students to appear and faces of people he had spend almost a decade with started to appear in the crowed. People he knew as Gryffindors were Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs. People he trusted with his life were now strangers.

"This is so weird." Harry muttered to himself, unfortunately James heard and asked him what was weird, catching the attention of the Order members and the Headmaster.

"People that I trusted with my life are now strangers that show me what I lost." Harry told him, not really paying attention, he was to lost in his memories, "Friends that would have given their lives for each other hardly talk. Seeing Neville sitting at the Hufflepuff table instead of at my side at the Gryffindor table, seeing Neville as the boy he is, compared to the man I knew him as, it's hard."

"You were friends with my son?" Frank asked him, "He was a Gryffindor?" there was a bit of incredulity in his voice, but a little bit of pried as well.

Harry's little speech had captured everyone's attention, but Harry really didn't care, far to lost in memories of times where he wasn't alone, where he had his loved ones with him.

"No, we weren't friends. We were brothers," answered Harry with a smile and nobody could deny the emotion in his voice, "He was a true Gryffindor, there was no one with more courage. He was one of us, he became one of the leaders quickly. I would have gladly given my live for him. Ron, Hermione and he were my favorites to have with me in a fight. Ron and he were deathly. I remember perfectly the effect they had when they entered the battlefield. People even said that one of them was my right hand and the other the left one and Hermione the head of course. The three of us were far to impulsive, without her we would have walked towards our deaths more than once."

"If you had friends like that why did you leave?" asked Frank. What Harry had told them had disturbed him more than a bit, and the others as well. They could shake the felling that Harry wasn't speaking metaphorically when he said that they walked towards their own deaths. However the answer Harry gave them troubled them even more and did nothing to reassure them.

"Sometimes, the price we pay for peace is far to great."

Unfortunately the first years started entering the Great Hall and they couldn't ask anymore questions. But most of those that had heard Harry's answer couldn't help but wonder how it was possible for a price to be to high to pay for there to be peace.


	4. New Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

**Chapter 4 – New Friends**

The start of the year feast was unbearably long for Harry. Seeing Hermione sitting at the Ravenclaw table was strange. Ron was also different, even though he was a Gryffindor he appeared to be calmer, he didn't appear to have any confidence in himself and he barely spoke to his colleagues, he faded in to the background. As strange as it may seem the only consolation were the Slytherins, Draco apparently was still the Slytherin Prince and Crabbe and Goyle his body-guards, just like in his world. It was comforting to see that some things never changed.

When the feast finally ended Harry was free to leave. That night was the worst night he had since arriving. Seeing all those faces opened up wounds that weren't completely healed to begin with and the nightmares he had that night were more memories than anything else, he could still hear their screams, see their faces, he was certain that he would remember it till the day he died.

Not being able to go back to sleep he went to his living room where Umbra was sleeping on the couch. The snake had been a good company, she had started to recall all her memories and she was the only one to know the horrors that his world had suffered. Knowing that he wasn't the only one to remember, that he wasn't the only one to mourn for what they had lost helped him keep himself together. He wasn't alone and that, to him, made all the difference.

_$ Another nightmare Harry? $_

_$ I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you. $_

_$ It's alright. Let me curl around you and all will be forgiven. $_

Harry laughed, Umbra always managed to lift his spirit. He let her curl around him and they spend a few moments enjoying each others company in silence.

_$ You know Harry, I think I should always be with you.$_

_$ You know you can't. People are afraid of you. $_

_$ Yes, but if I'm not with you how will I keep you safe? How will I take care of you if I'm not with you? It's dangerous for you to be alone, with your luck you will be attacked sooner or later. $_

_$ Thank you for caring Umbra, but it is impossible for you to always be with me. $_

_$ I don't care! My place is at your side. You are my master. $_

When Umbra said that, the wand that was in Harry's left arm holster shone briefly and Harry felt his arm burn.

"Fuck! What the...?"

He quickly took of his pajama shirt and his wand holster. His forearm was red and something black was appearing on it. It looked like little runes were forming on his forearm, but Harry had never seen runes with similar looks. When he focused he noticed that he was able to read the symbols. Now on his left forearm in black rune-like writings was the word: snake. And Harry instinctively knew what it was, the rune-like symbols were parseltongue in it's written form.

_$ What is that Harry? $_

_$ I have no idea Umbra... $_

Umbra always had been a rather curious snake, so she slid from one arm to the other and slithered over the mark. As soon as Umbra touched the mark Harry felt a wave of magic go through his body and in front of his eyes he saw Umbra merging with his skin. It was completely surreal, Umbra's body was slowly merging with Harry's skin, it started with her head and her body went next. When it stopped it looked like Harry had a tattoo of a snake that went from his shoulder almost to his wrist.

_$ Umbra? $_

_$ It's warm here Harry. Can I stay here? $_

_$ But... Can you come back out? $_

_$ I think so, yes. Wait a second... $_

Harry could see the Umbra _tattoo_ moving, and her head started to appear in the same place where it had started to merge with his skin.

"Awesome..."

_$ Does it hurt Harry? $_

_$ No, I don't feel anything. It's awesome. And I believe we solved our problem. Like that you can go with me everywhere, just like you wanted. $_

_$ That's right, and now I'm going to sleep. $_

And Umbra merged back with his skin. Harry saw her moving around trying to find the position that pleased her the most and in a matter of seconds she was back asleep.

Harry had no idea what had just happened but he didn't really care. Umbra was happy and he couldn't truthfully say that he didn't feel better knowing that she was close to him, and closer than what she was was impossible. The presence of his familiar made him feel safe and so he gave in to his exhaustion and fell asleep.

* * *

When Harry woke the next morning it was way past breakfast time, grumbling for having slept for that long he went down to the kitchens to find something to eat.

Having nothing better to do he wandered the castle for a while, until he went by a part that seemed different. At first he couldn't put his finger on what appeared to be so different but then it hit him. He was on the second floor, in front of the girl's bathroom and the difference was that the bathroom didn't look like the one from his world. This one didn't look worn out, nor did this one appear to have a moody teenage ghost haunting it. Suddenly Harry had a brilliant idea. Well he was sure that Hermione would have called it a suicidal idea but that didn't really matter at the moment.

He went into the bathroom and looked for the sink with the snake engraved in it. Having found it he hissed.

_$ Open. $_

And just like in his world the entrance to the chamber of secrets opened. Without a second thought he slid down the pipe and went straight to the doors that led to the basilisk.

_$ Don't look into it's eyes Umbra. Open. $_

And with his eyes closed he walked into the chamber.

_$ Who dares to disturb my sleep. $_

_$ I am sorry King of serpents, it wasn't my intention to disturb you. $_

_$ You speak human? Since I was put in this chamber a thousand years ago that I haven't seen another human that was able to speak our noble tongue. $_

_$ As far as I know, only myself and another human speak the noble tongue. $_

_$ I know who you speak of, the heir to my first master. The humans call him Voldemort. $_

_$ Yes, I know who he is. I'm surprised that he never came down here. $_

The basilisk made a sound that could be considered laughing and said.

_$ Oh, he tried, but I wasn't left here for the uses he wanted me for. He is only an heir because of the blood flowing trough his veins, nothing more, and that isn't enough to be allowed in to my chambers. You on the other hand, have no Slytherin blood in you and your soul is not from this world. Who are you? $_

_$ My name is Harry James Potter and this beautiful lady with me is named Umbra. $_

For a few moments the basilisk didn't say anything and Harry started to think that maybe it wasn't the most brilliant idea he ever had.

_$ Open you eyes Harry. $_

_$ No offense, but I rather like the fact that I'm alive. $_

The basilisk laughed again.

_$ I imagine that you do, do not worry, my eyes are shielded by a first eyelid, like that my eyes aren't deadly. $_

Harry took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The basilisk was just as he remembered from his second year, beautiful and majestic. He still felt bad about killing it.

_$ Don't mourn the death of my other self. You did not have a choice. Your Voldemort had enslaved it's mind. His death set him free and he was grateful. $_

_$ How come? $_

_$ Your wand, the one on your left arm, what is it made of? $_

_$ It's the fang that the other you bit me with, and the core is it's venom. $_

_$ Correct, but incomplete. His soul also joined you, not all of it of course, but he left a little bit of himself behind. That is what the engravings on your wand mean. He thanked you the only way he could. Of course he also left a little bit of himself in a certain egg. He did it to show you he was grateful. $_

Harry felt undeserving of the gift the old basilisk had given him. However he promised himself he would always treasure it. His wand was far more than a wand to him, both of them were far more than mere tools. He wondered if the reason why his holly wand had changed and gained similar engravings was because Fawkes also left part of him behind. He would never be able to thank either of them for what they did for him.

The basilisk lowered it's head so that it was level with Harry's and licked a tear that Harry hadn't even noticed.

_$ You might not be the blood heir, but you far more deserving than he ever was. $_

Without warning the color of the basilisk's eyes changed and Harry saw his whole life go trough his mind in a matter of seconds, in that exact moment the basilisk bit his hand and Harry was certain that he would die. However he didn't feel any pain. Just as fast as it started it ended, leaving Harry rather dazed.

_$ What the hell was that? $_

_$ I am sorry I did it so suddenly master. But after seeing your life, after seeing what happened... I feel honored to be your familiar. You are now an heir of Slytherin. $_

_$ What? $_

_$ My purpose isn't only to protect the chamber of secrets. My purpose is to help the heir of Slytherin to protect Hogwarts. You beat the heir of Slytherin in battle by law his title is yours. Even though you never went against him in this world, the right of conquest doesn't say that it only applies to the world in question, it just says that you have the right to claim it. The title is yours and what I did was the same as the other me did. I created a bond between us, but seeing as I am still alive I had to make you immune to my eyes and my venom. Your eyes will glow a little bit more than normal, but it will only be noticeable when you are channeling more magic. $_

_$ Oh, I don't know what to say. Thank you for giving me this honor. $_

_$ The honor is mine master. $_

_$ Don't call me master, I'm just Harry. What is your name? $_

_$ I don't have one Harry. $_

_$ That can't be, you have to have a name... Do you like any in particular? $_

_$ I never thought about it. I never needed a name. $_

_$ What about Letifer? $_

_$ I like it, it describes me rather well too. $_

_$ Letifer it is then, welcome to the family. $_

_$ Family? $_

_$ Of course, you, Umbra, Licentia, Hedwig and me, we are all family. $_

_$ Family... I like the sound of that. $_

_$ I will leave the doors open, you can go out hunting if you want to, but please keep hidden, at least for now, people are afraid of dark creatures. And if you could maintain that first eyelid over your eyes I would appreciate it. I really should be going now, I don't want them to go looking for me, but I'll come down here every chance I get. And Umbra can come whenever she wants so the two of you can speak, I can't talk to her in front of other people, they would freak out. At least like that you don't feel lonely. Is that alright? $_

_$ Of course Harry. I will go hunting now. I will see you later Harry, Umbra. $_

_$ Bye Letifer. $_

As he was going back Harry thought that he had gone better than what he was expecting, much better than what he was expecting. He had a new familiar and if the worst came to pass he had someone who could help him protect Hogwarts, he would never again see his home destroyed.

* * *

The month that followed was completely uneventful for Harry, which was a fairly pleasant change compared to what Harry was used to.

Unfortunately he hadn't spent as much time as he wanted with Lily, James, Sirius and Remus. It was understandable, they were busy with classes, Harry was grateful that they spent as much time as they could with him. What did surprise him was that on the morning after the full moon his father, Sirius and Remus were all in the infirmary. Lily later told him that the wolf was particularly aggressive, which should not have happened with the wolfsbane. After some questions he found out that the potion was never invented in this world.

With that in mind Harry anxiously waited for the first Hogsmead weekend so that he could buy all the ingredients he would need for the potion. The weekend started quite well, his parents and godfathers had the weekend free so they could all spend it together. They started by showing Harry the village, it was a bit different for the one in his world but the may stores remained the same. Harry hadn't felt so relaxed in a long time. A weekend spent with family was something he never thought he would have, well at least not with his parents.

Sirius spend a lot of his time trying to slip him firewhisky but Lily always caught him. Throughout the day, while he was having fun with these people that were doing their best so that he felt at home, he couldn't help but wonder if he was betraying those that had died in his world. His Sirius spent more than a decade suffering for a crime he did not commit, his Moony spent more than a decade in solitude, mourning the loss of his pack, his parents never had the chance to walk trough Hogsmead with him and show him their favorite stores. He couldn't help but feel he was betraying them. Although he knew that these people would never take the place of his parents or godfathers he still loved them. Sure they were different, but he loved how this Sirius was so much more open, loved how this Sirius wasn't a broken man. He loved how Moony would be enjoying a quiet moment with him reading a book, and the next was turning his hair pink with a completely innocent face, he loved that this Moony hadn't lost that side of him to years of grief. And James and Lily, it made him so happy that he could hear their voices as more than a memory of the night they gave everything for him. They may not be the ones he had known in his world, but they were still his family, and now that he had them back he would do anything to keep them safe, no matter the cost.

They were already going back to the castle when Harry remembered that he hadn't bought the ingredients at the apothecary. Telling his parents and godfathers that he had forgotten something and that they should keep going that he wouldn't take long he went back to Hogsmead. At least that was the idea. He took far longer in the shop than what he had thought, the shopkeeper was busy with a client and when Harry was finally finished it was already night. And as luck would have it when he was leaving the shop he heard the first scream.

"They were seen! On the road to Hogwarts. They were seen!"

"Who was seen?" he asked the first person he was able to grab.

"The Death Eaters boy!"

"On the road to Hogwarts? Are the students all back?"

"I don't know. I think so, they never stay till this late..."

However Harry's luck struck again and coming from the road that lead to Hogwarts came a terrified scream. Before he could even think about it his body was moving, running in the direction of the scream. Suddenly he felt like laughing, if his Ron were there he would say that it was his 'saving people thing' taking over.

And then he saw them, three people, wearing masks and robes that he knew so well, surrounding a boy that looked no older than sixteen.

And just like that he was in combat mode, it was so fast that nobody would have believed that he spent more than a month doing nothing more than reading. Taking out his basilisk wand he started the attack.

" _Lacero_!"

And the agonizing screams of a Death Eater filled the night.

"Good evening gentlemen. Maybe it would be a good idea if you left."

Harry wouldn't have been able to say who was more shocked, the Death Eaters or the boy.

"You must have a death wish boy! Do you not know who we are?" asked a voice that he knew very well.

"Oh no... I know perfectly well who you are Lucius, I was just giving you the chance to save your own lives. Now you can't complain if you find yourself on death's door."

Now Harry could see them getting over their shock and starting getting angry.

" _Crucio_!"

"Come on Rabastan. That is really bad aim lad," Harry mocked him with a large smile on his face, "Now it's my turn..."

And Harry attacked, curses flew from his wand at an incredible speed leaving his opponents with little time to counter-attack and their third member was still on the ground, twitching from the pain, Harry used the opportunity to stun him, leaving him out of the fight for good. The other two Death Eaters used that little opening to move closer to each other, so they could have a stronger defense. Harry only smiled at them.

"Bad choice boys," muttered Harry, " _Lacero_!" and with a little alteration to the wand movement he changed the range of the spell hitting the two Death Eaters at the same time. Their screams filled the air, and Harry focused his attention on Lucius. Everything he had done was still fresh in his memory, and his screams were giving him a certain satisfaction. But by focusing his attention on Lucius, the curse became weaker on Rabastan's end and with some difficulty he was able to cast a spell.

" _Diffindo_!"

Harry almost wasn't able to doge the spell, and it still hit him on his right arm making him grunt in pain. But it was enough for the Death Eaters to activate their portkeys.

However Harry still had time to sent a bone crushing curse that hit Lucius on the side making him cry out in agony before they disappeared.

"Fuck," swore Harry looking around for the kid, having lost sight of him during the fight, he saw him standing by a tree, "Hey kid, you alright?"

"That was awesome! You kicked their asses."

_Oh no_ , Harry thought his eyes going a little wide, he knew that voice.

"Ah, I'm Colin, Colin Creevey."

Apparently no matter the world nothing would keep Colin down for long.

"Harry... Look it's better if we go back to the castle."

Unfortunately for Harry, Colin spend every second of their ten minute walk to the castle chatting, Harry was ready to silence him when he saw the castle. For a few moments, when he saw the great doors of the castle he was rather happy, however when he saw the people waiting for them at the doors his happiness evaporated. Standing by the doors that lead out of the castle, looking like they were preparing themselves to go out searching for someone, Harry would bet everything he possessed that it was for Colin and him, were Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Mad-Eye, Frank Longbottom, James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Containing a sigh Harry approached them.

"Mr. Creevey what were you doing? Do you know how late it is? We were preparing ourselves to go looking for you."

Harry had seen that look directed at him many times, and he found it rather astonishing that little Colin didn't even flinch from the glare McGonagall aimed at him, it was good to see that a little from the Colin from his world was present in this one as well.

"I'm sorry professor, I got distracted and when I was coming back I was attacked by Death Eat..."

The rest of Colin's sentence was lost. Almost everyone present started talking at the same time and it took Dumbledore a few moments to regain control.

"It's best if we escort Mr. Creevey to the infirmary immediately."

"Oh, no. It's not necessary Headmaster. I'm not hurt. Before they could do anything Harry showed up, dueled the three of them and they ran away. It was awesome. And they could only hit him with one spell and even that one almost missed."

In that moment Harry would have preferred the previous noise to the deafening silence that followed. After what seemed like an eternity Dumbledore spoke.

"Minerva, it's would be best if you lead Mr. Creevey to his common room. We will accompany Harry to the infirmary."

"There's no need... It's just a scratch. I've had worse."

"Harry you will go to the infirmary and that's the end of it."

"Yes mum."

And looking quite put out Harry followed them to the infirmary. They made the walk in silence, however Harry was sure that as soon as they were in safe territory the interrogation would begin, and truthfully he didn't have the patience for it at the moment.

As soon as he arrived he sat on a bet and just like he suspected the silence lasted five seconds.

"What were you thinking?" exclaimed James, looking a little out of it, "You could have been badly hurt."

"Three Harry! Three Death Eaters!"

"You could have died..."

And it continued in the same way for a few moments. Most of them were silent, still Lily, James, Sirius and Remus were making enough noise for all of them. They were so agitated that they didn't even let Poppy heal him. Finally Harry had enough.

"That's enough." Harry told them in a commanding voice that silenced them immediately, "It were only three Death Eaters. They didn't even offer much of a fight, considering who they were I was expecting better, maybe they were just caught of guard. At least I hope that was the reason."

He said that in such a calm and carefree voice that some of those present felt a little relieved, if it was like the boy said then they were probably new recruits which lessened the danger considerably. Dumbledore however had a calculating look in his eyes.

"Harry, you said that you were expecting more of a fight considering who they were, did you recognize them?"

Surprising them Harry laughed.

"Well I have no idea who one of them was, he didn't have the opportunity to say or do anything that would allow me to recognize him. The other two however were quite easy to identify, no matter the world Lucius and Rabastan are unmistakable."

"Excuse me?" Snape couldn't help the question that came out of his mouth. He only knew two Death Eaters with those names, and they were no new recruits.

"Yes professor Snape?"

"Do you mind repeating the names?"

"Lucius Malfoy and Rabastan Lestrange."

"And you are certain that it was them?"

"As I said, I just don't know who the third one was, considering how fast he went down he was probably a new recruit. But I am absolutely certain who the other two were."

"That is all very interesting and all, but I want to see my patient." exclaimed Poppy exasperated and practically forced the others out of her way.

They didn't seem to mind, their thoughts were on what Harry had told them. Every one of them know those names, a none of them would even think about saying that they didn't put on a good fight. They were some of the best in the Dark Lord's ranks. They were part of his Inner Circle, two of his lieutenants. They couldn't believe that a boy had gone against them and won, or at least forced them to retreat.

"Mr. Potter, you will have to take of your shirt, there is a lot of blood."

Those present focused on Harry again, and some of them knowing that Harry was injured were a bit relieved. It wasn't everybody that could go against the Dark Lord's Inner Circle, and knowing that a boy had done so was leaving a few of them quite nervous. Not that they wanted the boy hurt, but they still didn't know much about the boy and thinking that a seventeen year old had that much power and skill left them a bit uneasy.

"Oh, sorry about that Poppy, I forgot. You know, if you were my Poppy you would be glaring at me muttering about me being in your care again. Although this time I spent more than a month between visits." Harry joked while he took of his shirt.

"Oh Merlin, how are you not screaming in pain?"

"It's not so bad Poppy, I've had worse."

"Not so bad? It even nicked the bone!"

Now that the shirt was of they could clearly see the wound on Harry's right arm. It went from his shoulder to a little below his elbow and in some parts they could clearly see the bone and they all agreed with Poppy, how could he not be screaming in pain? Even Moody who was a veteran auror had seen grown men with smaller wounds than that scream in pain and there was the boy, siting on a bed, with a small smile and joking with Poppy. Moody couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for the boy.

Harry may have been joking but on the inside he was cursing his luck. There was a very good reason why he wasn't screaming and behaving like it was nothing. The truth was that as soon as he was hit he had numbed his arm, and had cast a spell to slow the blood flow. He had done it almost subconsciously, it was so ingrained in him from his training and later from the war that it became almost second nature. Still there was no way he would tell them that, he could only hope that they believed he had a high pain tolerance, which he did have, and not ask a lot of questions.

"Take of the rest of your shirt and your wand holsters."

Harry did what he was told without thinking about it and those present almost gaped. Umbra was on his left arm, and to them she looked like a giant tattoo. But that wasn't the only thing they noticed , on his torso was a scar that went from his left shoulder to his right hip. It was really thin but it had a sort of shine to it that made it peculiar, it seemed that it reflected light. And when Harry turned his back to them, so that Poppy could reach his shoulder better, almost every one of them took a step back. On Harry's back was a really realistic looking snake tattooed, it was quite large, taking up almost his whole back, it had brilliant green eyes, and those eyes were looking at them as if they were prey. To their surprise the snaked moved to the side a little and lowered it's head and a big phoenix, that looked a lot like Fawkes, appeared and landed on the snake. Both of the animals looked at them attentively and when they appeared to be satisfied they curled up together and appeared to go to sleep. It was a beautiful work of art, and the animals looked so life like that they half expected them to jump out of Harry's skin.

The first to react was Sirius.

"Those are some great tattoos."

"Hum? Ah, yes... Glad you like them."

"I do like them, but I've never seen a snake like that."

"It's a basilisk."

"And how do you know how a basilisk looks like? They are supposed to be extinct, it's been almost seven hundred years that one was seen." Snape asked, looking quite skeptical. He didn't know what it was but there was something about the boy, about the way he talked sometimes, or moved that reminded him of someone, he just couldn't quite remember who and it was frustrating him to no end.

"I know how a basilisk looks because the first time I saw one was when I was twelve."

Harry's answer left them gaping but before they could ask any questions Poppy poured some potions down Harry's throat and he was rapidly falling asleep.

"Now you can all leave and let my patient rest." Poppy practically ordered.

Knowing Poppy's temper they quickly obeyed, leaving the infirmary with more questions than answers.

* * *

Harry woke the next morning in the familiar environment of the infirmary, noticing that Poppy was nowhere to be seen, he quickly cleaned his shirt of the blood it had, repaired the cut, put it on and left without anyone noticing. He was congratulating himself for a successful escape when he came face to face with his parents.

"Harry, we were on our way to see you."

"Hello mum, I'm sorry that I worried you yesterday. But I'm really fine."

"Yes, I can see that. Come let's go have breakfast, you have to get your strength back."

Glad that they were not questioning him, he followed them to the Great Hall, as soon as he entered and heard Colin shout "Harry." he almost went back to the infirmary, almost.

"Hey Colin, everything alright?"

"Yes, come sit with us."

And Colin almost dragged him to the Gryffindor table, where he was quickly surrounded by familiar faces.

"Hello, I'm Ron. Thanks for saving Colin."

"It was nothing."

"Of course it was. I'm Dean. So how old are you?"

"I'm seventeen."

"Really? You're our age. You should go to classes with us."

"There's no need..."

"Of course there is, you're always with the teachers, it must get boring. The first class today is potions, then we have care of magical creatures, after that defense and then transfiguration."

Harry gave in, for a moment he could pretend. For a moment he could pretend that his nightmares were only that, that none of it was real. For a moment he could pretend that he was surrounded by his friends and that war and death were mere words. For a moment he could pretend.

On the head table Harry's behavior was being studied to the smallest detail, they were trying to decipher the mystery that was Harry Potter.

"He may go to classes today," Albus told them, "Keep your eyes open."

* * *

Harry went to the dungeons with the Gryffindors. Just like in his world they had most of their classes with the Slytherins.

As soon as Snape came in to the classroom he told them that they would be starting the polyjuice potion and that it would be a project for the rest of the month and their work would be evaluated not only on the finished product but also on each stage that their potion would be by the end of every class they had. That said he promptly told them to start working. After looking over the classroom he saw Harry with the students and told him.

"If you wish you could do a different potion. From what I was told you didn't complete your sixth year."

Some of the Slytherins laughed and Draco looked at him with disdain. It was such a normal behavior that Harry almost smiled.

"Thank you professor, but that won't be necessary. I know the Polyjuice potion quite well."

"And may I know how you know of the potion?"

"Oh? Ah, two friends and I brewed the Polyjuice potion in our second year for the first time."

"Are you saying that Polyjuice was part of the curriculum of the second year?" asked Snape incredulous.

"Merlin, no, nothing like that. My friends and I did the potion ourselves. The professors would never have allowed it if they had known."

Snape was astonished. Making Polyjuice potion as a second year! Why the hell would second years be making polyjuice in the first place? Snape spend the rest of the class observing Harry closely and he noticed that Harry hadn't looked at the instructions even once. Even so when at the end of the class he delivered the potion, Snape was certain that it was the by far the best of the class.

"You must be an excellent potion student." Snape told him and Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"Not really, it's my worst subject actually. But I had to learn some of them, and those that I know I can make them perfectly, I was lucky that polyjuice is one of them."

"Is that so? And what are the others?"

"Nothing special. Pepper-up, Dreamless sleep, Draught of Living Death, Veritaserum, Skel-Grow and a few more."

"Very well. You may go." Snape told him, making a mental note that he had to talk to the Headmaster during lunch.

Harry was with the other Gryffindors waiting for the professor of the Care of Magical Creatures. It was strange to have that class without Hagrid, and besides this was the only professor that he didn't know. He knew the man was named Mark Dracy but nothing more. After five more minutes the professor arrived and started the class. To Harry's surprise they were going to talk about hippogriffs and the professor had brought Buckbeak. At the beginning he was quite happy about it, but it became apparent that the professor had no idea what he was talking about, at least Harry thought so. He spend the whole time calling Buckbeak a creature, and telling them that they were violent beasts with no intelligence. With every insult Harry could see Buckbeak become more agitated until it attacked the professor. Panic spread trough the students and the professor was frozen in place, before it could get out of hand Harry intervened, he stepped in front of Buckbeak and bowed. After a few tens moments, where both the students and teacher held their breaths, Buckbeak bowed back and Harry moved closer to him, petting his neck, where his Buckbeak liked it.

"Hey boy, it's good seeing you again." Harry mutter under his breath.

Buckbeak just looked at him with big intelligent eyes and let Harry continue to pet him.

"Get away from it immediately. That beast is dangerous, didn't you see that it almost killed me?"

"Killed you? He didn't even touch you. Besides, it was your fault, you were the one insulting him."

"How could I have possible insulted the creature?"

"And you consider yourself a Care of Magical Creature professor? Completely ridiculous."

"Listen here boy..."

"My name is not boy. I believe we are at the end of class. Maybe it's best if you go back to the castle."

The professor sneered at him, let out a sound that could pass as a growl and marched back to the castle, some students following him. Harry didn't pay him any mind and continued to pet Buckbeak.

"I'm sorry about him Buckbeak. Some humans just aren't worth it, you know? Do you wanna go flying?"

Buckbeak turned around a little so that Harry could climb to his back.

"Great, let's go boy..."

And the next moment Buckbeak took of, beating his powerful wings, and Harry laughed enjoying the felling of freedom he had every time he was flying. If it were up to him he would spend all his time up in the sky, with no concerns, simply enjoying the freedom he felt, the peace it brought him.

"Did you see that?" asked Seamus his voice filled awe.

"He's flying on a hippogriff." exclaimed Ron looking at the sky shocked.

"That's so awesome. The guy must be a Gryffindor." Dean stated, he to looking at the sky.

Harry couldn't stay with Buckbeak very long, it was almost lunch time and he was quite hungry. Saying good-bye to Buckbeak he went to the Great Hall where he sat next to Sirius.

Unfortunately luck was not on his side, and that professor wanna be from care of magical creatures took a seat on his other side. Harry was doing his best to not pay attention to what he man was saying, but it was becoming harder by the minute. He was saying that they should execute the beast that had attacked him and Harry had no wish whatsoever to listen to his ranting. Unfortunately for Mark, Harry heard the last part of his ramblings.

"... I think they should all be put down. Half-breeds included, werewolfs are a danger to our society, they should round them up and put them down like rabid dogs."

So fast that they could hardly see his movements Harry had stood up, yanked Mark out of his chair and had his wand pointed between Mark's eyes. The entire great hall froze on the spot. When Harry spoke his voice was just a little above a whisper, but everybody in the hall could hear him clearly and nobody could stop the shiver that went down their spine.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't put you down like a rabid dog."

"What do you think you are doing?" screamed Mark, not taking his eyes of his wand, "I'm your professor, I demand respect. If you don't lower that wand right now, I'll make you spend great part of your life in Azkaban. I guaranty it."

Harry just smiled at him, and those that saw that smile felt their blood freeze.

"What do I think I'm doing? I believe it's quite obvious: I am threatening to put you down like a rabid dog. You are not, never were and never will be my professor. And my respect isn't something I give just because you demand it. And I guaranty you that I do not need my wand to deal with you. But I suppose I can indulge you, I can put this wand down..."

And with the same speed as before he put his phoenix wand away and took out the basilisk one. Everybody could feel the difference, the temperature dropped several degrees and a soft green light surrounded Harry, and those at the head table that were the closest to him could feel it's oppressing power.

"You shouldn't have asked me to put the other wand away. I'm still waiting for a good reason..."

"Harry, maybe you should calm down..."

"Sirius, if I weren't calm he would already be dead. Besides it would be better to remove him from the castle."

"Excuse me, but you do not have the authority to expel people from my castle."

"It is not your castle Dumbledore, and I didn't think you liked to have Death Eaters teaching your students."

"What do you mean?"

"Yes, what do I mean Mark?"

"You are crazy! Crazy. I'm going to send you to Azkaban..."

In the blink of an eye Harry had put his wand away, grabbed Mark's right arm and twisted him around so that Harry was at his back preventing him from moving. With his free hand he grabbed Mark's neck, with enough force to make it difficult for him to breathe but not enough force to choke him. He whispered in his ear, only those by the head table able to hear him, leaving most of them in cold sweat.

"I don't have a clue where you got the idea that Azkaban would be able to contain me, besides I already lived in hell on earth, I lived trough all my worst nightmares, trust me, Azkaban would be nothing more than a vacation for me." speaking louder he added, "Pull his sleeve up."

Sirius was the closest to them and he obeyed without a second thought. He didn't know why but he knew that disobeying would not be an option, he had no wish to have Harry's anger directed at him, even if he deep down knew that Harry would never hurt him, all his instincts were screaming at him to do what Harry had said.

And there, for them all to see was the Dark Mark.

"You are the one who should be put down like a dog." Harry sneered, his eyes blazing with anger. He knew that there was something wrong with the bastard he just wasn't able to put his finger on what, until he had touched him. As soon as he touched him he could feel Voldemort's magic, to weak and to close to be anything else but the Dark Mark. That was what had felt off to him, he could feel the familiar magic, but it was to weak for him to identify it.

"Alastor, please escort Mr. Dracy to the school gates."

"Wait a second, that's all you are going to do to him?"

"Being marked isn't illegal. If they are not caught red handed there is nothing we can do."

Harry couldn't contain his laughter. They were practically handing Tom the victory on a silver platter. Why don't they give themselves up while they're at it.

"Completely ridiculous. It isn't enough that you let him say shit like that but on top of that you let them walk around free."

"Having tattoos isn't a crime, otherwise you would be in trouble." Snape told him with his usual sneer.

Harry just smiled at him and replied, "Yes, but I didn't have to torture and kill a child to have mine." and with that turned his back on them and left the great hall.

* * *

The great hall was in turmoil. The events provoked by Harry had left them all shocked but not all for the same reasons.

Snape was shocked, a state that he found himself more often than he liked since Harry Potter arrived. The way the boy moved wasn't normal for a seventeen year old. Aside from that, he was sure that the boy would have killed Mark if he wasn't in the great hall, it was there in his eyes for all to see, the boy was a killer. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of world trained a seventeen year old to be a killer.

"Headmaster, today during class Potter said that he was a horrible potion students but that there were some potions that he knew how to make perfectly and that he would be able to do them almost blindfolded."

"And what potions are those?"

"Polyjuice, Pepper-up, Dreamless sleep, Draught of Living Death, Veritaserum, Skel-Grow and a few more he said," Snape informed him, well aware that everyone at the table was listening, "Those are not easy potions to make Albus, and Veritaserum? You can't brew it without Ministry permission and Polyjuice is also a controlled substance. Why would a seventeen year old boy need all that, and he had to be younger when he started to brew them, he only turned seventeen recently."

"That is a really good question Severus. James, Sirius he will be going to your class today, won't he?" seeing both men nod he asked, "What will the class be about?"

"We are going to talk about the Unforgivables, and show how the imperius curse works. Remus is going to assist us, he is the only one that can fight of the imperius even a little."

"Very well. Keep a close eye on Harry, see the reactions he has, it may reveal more about him."

When they were on their way to defense Remus joined them.

"I want it to be known that I don't agree with Albus." Remus declared looking at his friends.

"And do you think I agree?" James said looking fierce, "He is my son!"

"But you have to admit... Did you see the way he dealt with Mark? He appeared to be used to that kind of situation, used to be the one in control. He doesn't behave like a normal teenager, to be honest I want to know more about him."

James and Remus both agreed with Sirius, they just didn't believe that this was the best way to go about it.

When they arrived to their classroom Harry was already there reading a book. They did not have the chance to speak to him before the students started to arrive. Both the Slytherins and the Gryffindors stayed away from him. The Slytherins were looking at him with interest and had a calculating look in their eyes. The Gryffindors on the other hand were looking at him with fear and respect. However both houses shared the opinion that maybe it was best to keep a safe distance for the moment.

The three professors sighted and started the lesson.

Just like they were expecting the students were excited when they learned that they would be talking about the Unforgivables, but Harry didn't even look up from his book, but they could see he wasn't reading, he was just turning the pages looking a little bored, he didn't appear to be interest in the Unforgivables even the slightest bit.

The three friends shared a look and started talking about the curses. They began with the ' _Cruciatus_ ' and then the ' _Avada Kedavra_ ', leaving the ' _Imperius_ ' for last. The students thought that that was the less dangerous one, seeing that Sirius started to describe what some people had done while under the curse and many students paled, until someone asked the question they were waiting for.

"And is there no way to break the curse?"

"That is a very good question." James told the student with a small smile, "and yes there is a way to break it, but usually only one in a hundred people are able to."

"I bet that any pure-blood can break the curse." Draco Malfoy declared with is nose in the air sneering at the Gryffindor side of the room. All three professors noticed the small smile on Harry's face when he heard Draco. Not knowing what to make of it they continued.

"Are you sure Mr. Malfoy?" asked Sirius looking unusually somber.

"Of course, pure-bloods are naturally superior."

" _Imperio_."

The next moment Draco was going around the room doing pirouettes much to the Gryffindors delight.

"As you can see, your blood doesn't matter. What matters is your strength of will." having said that Sirius canceled the curse.

They spend a few more minutes showing the students what it was like to be under the curse, however none of them seemed to be able to even fight it a little. The class was almost over when they noticed Harry rocking back and forth on his chair with a bored look on his face and not appearing to be paying attention. All three had the same idea, Sirius pointed his wand and without warning cast the curse.

" _Imperio_."

The next moment Sirius flew trough the room and hit the blackboard with some force.

"Oh, fuck." Harry exclaimed and before anyone could react he was already rushing to Sirius's side. James quickly dismissed the students and joined him, followed by Remus.

"Sirius, I'm sorry, are you ok?"

"I'm fine kid, really."

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to. I really didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

And not giving them time to say anything Harry was out the door, leaving all three of them looking at the door he had just been trough.

"Maybe we should go after him." mutter James looking at his two friends.

They found him on the first floor by a balcony looking at the forest. Harry noticed their presence and turned to look at them.

"I'm sorry Padfoot, I would never hurt you, none of you. I would rather die than seeing something happening to you. I know that you are not them. You are not my Prongs, nor my Padfoot or my Moony. How could you be? You did not have their lives, but it is like I have a part of them back and I am not going to let anything happen to you. I'm not going to lose you again."

And for a reason they did not understand Harry whistled.

"Harry, it wasn't your fault."

"Sirius shouldn't have done that..."

"I was always impulsive, besides I'm alright, see?"

Harry smiled at them, turned his back to them and jumped of the balcony.

Time seemed to move in slow motion, the three of them saw Harry jump and felt their hearts stop, suddenly time moved at normal speed again and they rushed to the edge of the balcony, but before they made it a hippogriff flew by and to their astonishment Harry was on it's back.

"Go Buckbeak!"

They heard him scream and they saw the hippogriff go in to a dive and they heard Harry scream and laugh. After a few moments they were out of sight.

The friends let out a breath that they hadn't realized they had been holding.

"The kid will end up giving me a heart attack."

"But you have to admit James, the kid has style." Sirius told him, and he had a little smug smile on his face.

Remus couldn't help it, he laughed. It was true they didn't know anything about his previous life, they didn't know how strong he was, they didn't know what brought him to this world, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that he was there now, and that he was without a doubt their boy.


	5. Getting to know Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> $ Parseltongue $
> 
> A.N.: I know that some things didn't happen like that in cannon, that's why I put them in the memories with more details, however the rest happened just like in cannon till the end of their fifth year. It's related to some things that will happen further on in the story. It will better explain some decisions that Harry makes. I always thought it was a bit stupid of him to ignoring his Slytherin side, so I decided to change that, can't really say more without giving to much away.

**Chapter 5 – Getting to know Harry**

The looks Harry received after the confrontation in the Great Hall and the defense class came as no surprise to Harry. He was used to it actually, the fear and mistrust in their eyes was something that they all had to endure in his old world. No matter how many times people said that they were grateful for what he and his friends were doing it never erased the fear in their eyes. He didn't truly blame them, knowing what they were able to do, knowing what they were wiling to do to win, but that didn't mean that he didn't feel bitter about it. They were doing their dirty work, they were doing what nobody else was wiling to do and they were feared for it. So yes, he felt bitter about it, and he couldn't help but wonder what they would have done once the war was over and Harry and his friends weren't needed anymore.

And this world was no better. They didn't even know what he was capable and yet the looks were so very similar. It pained him in ways that he didn't think was possible, to be so feared, to be so mistrusted just because of a little confrontation where he didn't even curse anyone.

Some days he wanted to show them who he truly was, what he was capable of just so that they would have a valid reason to fear him. But then he would talk with Lily or James and Sirius and Remus and that want would disappear because they didn't look at him like that. They looked at him with love and care and longing and Harry would feel his walls start to break. How could he deny them what they wanted? To know their son, to know him. It was so rare that someone wanted to know him, Harry, just Harry, so everyday he let them know a little bit about him. Little things, like his love for flying, his favorite subject, the huge amount of house points he and his friends had lost after being caught after curfew in their first year, naturally any mentions of dragons were omitted. He tried giving them what they wanted and deep down it was also what he wanted but he still couldn't bring himself to tell them the whole truth. If they were going to reject him, as he thought they would, he at least wanted to hold on to this a little longer, be with them a little longer. It may be selfish of him but he figured that after everything that he went trough he deserved to be a little bit selfish.

However sharing those little bits of information with his family came with a cost, he had done everything he could to not think about his world, to try and not remember everything he had lost but those talks were bringing everything to the forefront of his mind. Sometimes he lost himself so much in thought that he spent all day thinking about them. He knew it wasn't healthy, he knew he shouldn't be doing it, but during the day there was not much to keep his mind occupied. He didn't attend classes anymore, he couldn't stand the looks of fear in the faces of people he had once known and loved, besides he already knew what they were teaching. So his days were filled with nothing and he lost himself in memories.

Umbra tried her best to keep him out of those moods, and a little bit more than a month after arriving Umbra had help from Licentia. The little one started to speak and Harry was quite stunned when he discovered that she was able to speak parseltongue. They united forces and managed to keep Harry distracted most of the time, asking Harry to take them to see Letifer and spent some time there. Harry obliged them, he enjoyed Letifer's company and the basilisk always had some interesting stories to tell. Anything that keep him entertained was welcome, anything that keep the memories at bay.

However no matter how bad his days were, the nights were worse. Nightmare after nightmare would keep him up and there was nothing he could do to stop them. Not even sleeping draughts worked, so he suffered trough them and the following morning he would pretended that everything was fine, after all there was no need to alert the Potters, Sirius and Remus.

Harry had no intention whatsoever for anybody to see him like that, so vulnerable, he should have known that fate didn't really care about what he wanted.

Harry was sitting by the lake, it was cold but he didn't really care, anything was better than being inside the castle, surrounded by memories. Outside was easier to pretend, not that it was doing him much good that day. He was immersed in memories of battles and blood, pain and death, screams filled his head, and he could see with crystal clarity the battle unfolding all around him, could feel the deathly magic in the air, the blood on his face, the adrenaline cursing through his body. It was gruesome and yet he didn't think that he had ever felt so alive. They all felt it, battle was in their blood, it hadn't always been like that but it was what they had become. He heard someone laugh, he knew that laugh, it was his brother, he loved a challenge and what better challenge could there be than going against Voldemort's lieutenants? He had laughed too. How could he not? That was it, the last one, whoever survived this one would win, so how could he not laugh?

He felt someone touch his shoulder, how could he have been so careless in middle of battle, how hadn't he felt anyone come near him, that was how people got killed.

Acting on instincts gained after years of training he moved almost automatically, grabbing the hand on his shoulder and moved out of the way with practiced ease, the thought of killing his opponent crossed his mind but then he changed his mind just as quickly, after all they made it a habit of not killing anyone without knowing who it was, they could have valuable information, going instead for stunning the idiot who thought it was a good idea to take him on. Hadn't they learned yet? Going against them, especially him and his friends, was suicide.

He heard his name being called and stopped. It took him a second or two but he looked around, he saw no battle, no blood, no death, he heard no screams. It took him another second to realize what had happened and he cursed. Why, why had he left his room? He knew that it would be a bad day, especially after the nightmare he had had, so why had he left his room? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Looking around he saw Lily, James, Sirius and Remus a little to his left, Lily was the one who had called him. On the ground was Frank Longbottom and a little behind him with their wands pointing at him, were Dumbledore, Moody and Snape. He was fucked.

Not wanting the situation to get worse, though he had no idea how he could achieve that, he lowered his wand and tried to appear as innocent as possible. Seeing as they continued to point their wands at him he didn't think it was working but that didn't stop him from trying, he was nothing if not persistent.

"I'm sorry," and he truly was, "He startled me, it was not my intention to hurt him in any way." well that was also almost completely true.

Dumbledore was the first to lower his wand, if only just a bit, but at least it was something, however Snape and Moody only glared. Harry truly wasn't surprised by it, of all the people he had meet in this world, Snape and Moody appeared to be the ones who were the most like their counterparts.

"What did you do to him boy?" Moody growled and Harry looked a bit annoyed, he absolutely hated being called boy, and were they stupid? It was only a stunner, how could they not have recognized it?

"My name is Harry or Potter, I'm also known by Wings and Hunter, but those names are more for close friends, and what do you mean what did I do to him? He's only stunned."

Those present were a bit surprised, it wasn't every day that someone talked to Moody like that, especial when they had three wands pointed in their direction.

"Stunned?" Dumbledore asked looking at Frank with a curious expression.

"Yes, stunned. You know, s _tupefy_ , a really simple spell, surprised you never heard of it..."

"We know what stunned is boy, what we want to know is what you did." Moody interrupted him, he looked like he would like nothing better than to curse Harry.

"I really don't like repeating myself," Harry sighed, he was getting quite annoyed with all of this, it was only a stunning spell, no one was hurt, what more did they want, "My name is Harry or Potter, and I think it's obvious that I used the spell _stupefy_ , now can I go or do you have more stupid questions to ask me?"

Harry knew that maybe it wasn't the best of ideas to be so aggressive but he didn't care, at least not at the moment. He just wanted to leave, to go to his room and stay there until he had himself under control. However movement to his left reminded him that he couldn't, he knew that his parents would like an explanation.

"Don't take us for fools boy," Snape sneered, "If that had been a stunner then the Headmaster would have simply dispelled it, yet he couldn't do it with the counter curse."

"Ah, so that's it. Let me rephrase it then. What I did was a stunner done correctly by a wizard with above average power. It's as simple as that. Now if you would excuse me, I'll be in my rooms."

"Don't move boy," Snape growled, "Stop being so arrogant. The Headmaster is one..."

"... of the greatest wizards of his time and blah blah blah," Harry finished for him, and when Harry looked at them his eyes shone a killing curse green, showing for a few moments the power Harry possessed, "now listen closely, I survived a war that cost thousands of people their lives, maybe there was a reason for that. Everyone knows that when you cast a stunner correctly, meaning if you know the spell inside and out, than you know that by adding just a little wand movement then the counter curse only works if the one performing the counter has a stronger will than the caster or if they are magically stronger, I suppose that the Headmaster only cast the spell halfheartedly, and that's why it didn't work."

"That's battle magic." Moody grumbled, lowering his wand a little and looking at Harry with new interest.

"I know. I repeat, we were at war, things like that were common knowledge. It was the difference between life and death. Now if you'll excuse me."

Not waiting for them to say anything else Harry left, knowing that his parents and godparents were behind him. He supposed that he could tell them a little more about him, he knew that Sirius and James used to be aurors, so they had to know that battle magic wasn't taught at school, and most of it was illegal. It was far sooner than what he wanted but as stated before, Fate never cared about what he wanted.

They were almost in front of the painting that protected the entrance to his rooms when he turned around to talk to his parents and godparents.

"I know that you must have questions, but I truly don't want to answer them. However if you come with me I will show you parts of my life, a little bit of who I am. Do you want to?"

"Of course we want to." James answered without a second thought and Harry almost couldn't handle the amount of emotion in James's eyes.

"Alright, but I warn you, there will be things there that you will not like."

Having said that he turned around and walked to the painting that would lead to his rooms. Taking a deep breath he hissed.

_$ Opportunity. $_

He went inside and waited for the others. However the four friends were frozen in front of the entrance. Harry went back outside and said.

"Aren't you coming in?"

Coming out of their shock they followed him inside, it wasn't the first time they had been in Harry's living room, they just never had him open the painting, it was quite a shock to see that Harry was a parseltongue and it left them a little bit nervous. As far as James knew no Potter had ever spoken parseltongue and Lily was muggle-born, where had Harry gotten the gift from?

Harry's living room was warm and welcoming, decorated in blues, silver, gold and black. It had a little bit of all the house. Harry and his friends had long ago lost any and all prejudice against the other houses, there were far more important things that what house a person was from.

"You can sit down." Harry told them while he opened a drawer and took a pensive out. "Instead of telling you I think it's better if you see for yourself. But I'm only going to show you the first few years. Later I may be able to show you the rest, but not at the moment. I hope you don't mind, but I will not be going with you, I have no wish to relive my nightmares." after saying that Harry started to deposit memory after memory in the pensive while his family watched in silence, when he finished he said, "I, Harry James Potter, swear on my life and magic that all the memories that you are about to see are real, so mote it be."

The four friends saw a golden light warp around Harry for a few moments then vanish.

"As you can see, I'm still alive. While you are in the pensive I'll take a nap."

Not wanting to see if they had anything to say Harry went to his room, leaving the four of them looking after him for a few moments.

"Shall we?" James asked after a few minutes.

"It doesn't look like we have much choice." Sirius answered, they wanted to know Harry and the best way to do it would be to go into the pensive.

Lily and Remus nodded and together they entered the pensive.

* * *

Lily, James, Sirius and Remus felt like they were falling for a few seconds before they felt their feet it the ground.

"I'm not sure, but aren't we supposed to be seeing something?" asked Sirius looking around, "It's completely dark..."

However before anyone could answer him they heard a noise, it seemed like something breaking.

"Lily run! Take Harry and go, it's him!" they heard James scream and they heard a door being thrown open. They heard running and Lily's voice was heard.

"Not Harry! Please not Harry. Not Harry."

"Stand aside girl." exclaimed a voice that made their blood freeze.

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead. Please! Not my Harry" Lily cried, begged, and they didn't know what to do and it was so much worse when they realized there was nothing that they could this, this was a memory, it had already happened.

" _Avada Kedavra_." the voice exclaimed followed by a cruel laugh.

Next they saw a bright green light and the memory ended.

Lily and James had tears running down their cheeks and Sirius and Remus were as pale as a ghost but before they had the time to process what they had seen and heard they were already seeing a new memory.

A Harry that didn't appear to be more than five years old was on his knees cleaning the floor, he was wearing clothes that look like rags that were far to big for him, and they couldn't help the comparison to a house-elf.

"Boy!" they heard a man scream.

Harry almost jumped out of his skin and quickly got up going in the direction of the voice.

"Yes Uncle Vernon?"

"Your aunt said that you burned the lunch you were making! Do you think that we can waste money because of you? Isn't it enough that we gave you a roof over your head? A place for you to sleep? Nobody else would want a freak like you! You won't have anything to eat today, do you hear me boy?" the man screamed.

"But I haven't eaten in two days..." little Harry started saying, but his uncle punched him and Harry fell. His uncle grabbed him by the neck and growled.

"You dare talk back boy? Petunia and I should never have taken a freak like you into our home. You should have died with your freak parents."

Vernon lifted the boy up and dragged him into the hall, where he opened the door of a cupboard under the stairs and pushed Harry inside and locked the door.

The memory ended and a new one took it's place. And then another, and another, and another. They watched with horror how Harry was abused by the people that were supposed to love him. They felt rage like never before, how could anyone do that to a child! To their child!

Finally they saw Harry receive their Hogwarts letter and they felt hope that Harry would finally leave that place, however not even that appeared to be a happy occasion since letter after letter were taken away from him.

The next memory was of Harry getting his wand, they saw him go trough a few before he found his match.

"Curious… curious…"

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar. Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."

They saw Hagrid telling him about his history, they saw him making his first friend on the train and finally they saw him get called to be sorted.

"Oh, what do we have here? So much talent, so much power — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting, there's loyalty too. And not a bad mind either. It's all here in your mind. Slytherin... You are without a doubt a Slytherin my boy... You have everything Salazar would have wanted in a student... I have no doubt that Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness..."

"Not Slytherin..."

"Are you sure boy? It's all here... There is no doubt that you are Slytherin."

"No, not Slytherin!"

"Very well, so be it. I can not force you to admit to yourself who you are. But do not forget my boy, it is who you are, it is a part of you. You are Slytherin and you will go to... GRYFFINDOR."

After that came memories of his time at Hogwarts. When they saw him going against a troll they couldn't help but feel proud even if they were afraid for him, they were proud that he would do that for a girl that he didn't even consider a friend at the time. As they watched they saw Harry and his friends getting more and more involved in a mystery that should have been let for the adults to deal with, but they uncovered every clue and ended up facing the one responsible.

They saw him go against Quirrell and despaired when the wasn't able to escape, and for the second time since entering the pensive they heard a voice that froze their blood.

"He lies… He lies…"

"Potter, come back here! Tell me the truth! What did you just see?" Quirrell shouted.

The high voice spoke again. "Let me speak to him… face-to-face…"

Lily screamed when she saw what was on the back of Quirrell's neck.

Harry Potter…" it whispered. "See what I have become? Mere shadow and vapor… I have form only when I can share another's body… but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds… This is what you did to me Harry. But I am a merciful Lord, join me Harry and give me the Stone in your pocket, and I guarantee that you will be highly rewarded."

"NEVER!" screamed Harry.

And they saw Harry fight for his life. After what seemed like an eternity the fight ended and a new memory took it's place.

Harry appeared to be in his room, and two twins, that they recognized as Fred and George, where helping him getting out trough a window and into a flying car. They saw Harry spent time with the Weasleys and going to school in a flying car, Sirius and James couldn't contain the laughter when they saw that, though James tried to control himself after a look from Lily.

However that school year proved to be just as dangerous as the previous one. They could hardly believe it when they saw the students being petrified. And again Harry and his friends uncovered secrets that where long forgotten. They also saw how Harry was treated for being a parselmouth and the tragedy at the end of the year.

They could hardly believe that Harry had gone on alone to save the sister of his friend.

They were beyond shocked when Riddle revealed himself as Voldemort, and they witnessed how, once again, Voldemort tried to recruit Harry to his side.

"We are so similar Harry," he told him, "both orphans, both abused by people that should have cared for us. Both much more than what we appear. We are so similar, we even look alike, we could almost be a refection of the other. I wonder, what would be able to achieve if you joined me."

But again Harry refused him and was forced to fight a basilisk. The fight to them went on forever and they thanked Merlin when it ended.

The memory that followed appeared quite normal, Harry was in the kitchen with his aunt and uncle, but they quickly noticed that it was anything but normal. After Harry's parents were insulted Harry losses control blows up his and and runs away from home. Though they were angry about what was said the three Marauders were quite happy with what Harry had done to Marge.

They were shocked when they learned that Sirius had spent more than a decade in Azkaban, and were astound that Harry and Hermione went back in time to save Sirius and help him escape. James had a huge smile on his face, he had recognized Harry's patronus, it filled him with pried that he was his son's patronus.

The last memory they saw was of Sirius getting away on the back of a hippogriff.

* * *

When they left the pensive the four of them were a long time immersed in their own thoughts. They were trying to assimilate the reality of the memories they had just seen. For them it was more like a story than reality, and who could blame them? No parents would want their child to have to go trough something like that.

"Wow," Sirius ended up saying, more to himself then the others, "And this were the early years, before they were at war."

"Oh Merlin..." whispered Lily looking at Sirius, she hadn't thought about that, if what they had seen was without a war being fought, she didn't know if she wanted to know what it was like when the war escalated.

"I spent twelve years in Azkaban! And I was innocent."

"I don't understand how they could have thought that you could have betrayed us!" James screamed, "And they didn't even give you a trial! They shipped you of to Azkaban just like that! And why the hell do you have that little smile Moony?"

Remus seemed caught of guard for a moment but then he said.

"Harry defeated Voldemort when he was one. Then when he was eleven and again when he was twelve. And when he was thirteen he used a Time-Turner, went back in time, was able to cast a patronus strong enough to fight of more than one hundred dementors saving your hide. I don't think I have ever felt so proud. Tough simply thinking about it terrifies me I know there is nothing I could do to change what happened, so I try to focus on the positive. We know, or at least we suspected he was powerful, but seeing things like that? It's... I don't know how to describe it."

"You know," started James after a few moments, "After seeing his first three years at Hogwarts it doesn't really surprise me that he behaved the way he did with Dumbledore, Snape and Moody. From what we saw he isn't used to follow others, or to be intimidated easily."

"Did you notice his wand? It's different from the one he has now." Lily remarked.

"Yes, and did you notice what he showed in great detail?" Sirius asked, seeing the inquiring looks of his friends he elaborated, "He showed us that he has many things in common with Voldemort."

Nobody said anything. It was true, some memories showed that, they could not deny it. Now they just had to decide if it was something that bothered them or if they would continue to treat Harry the same way. However before they could talk about it Harry returned to the living-room. He only had his trousers on, so they were able to see the scar on his torso, they were curious about it, they wanted to ask where he had gotten it, but they didn't know if they should. They knew that Harry didn't want to talk about certain things, especially if it regarded the war, and they were almost certain that that scar was related to the war.

When Harry looked up and saw them there he appeared momentarily confused, he quickly went back to his room and came back a few seconds later with a shirt on.

"Sorry about that. I forgot that you would probably still be here."

That was followed by a awkward silence, none of them knew what to say. However Lily, not able to contain herself got up and gave him a hug.

"Thank you for showing us." she whispered.

"Yes, thank you for trusting us." James told him and a brilliant smile appeared on Harry's face.

"I think I never had to do anything as scary as this." Harry told them and the four of them looked at Harry with incredulity written all over their faces. The kid had gone against Voldemort when he was eleven and he found this scary? They tried, they really did, but they couldn't help it, they started laughing.

Getting his laughing under control Sirius exclaimed. "Kid you went against Voldemort two times, a huge basilisk, more than one hundred dementors, all of it before you were fourteen years old, and you find this scary?"

"Well, when you put it that way... But in my defense... You know what? I have no idea how to finish that sentence." Harry said with a smile making the others laugh again.

They may not know everything about Harry, and though their curiosity was stronger than ever, it wasn't something they had to find out at the moment. Harry trusted them, and when he felt ready he would tell them the rest. Now they were just happy to have him in their lives.


	6. There is no good or evil, only power and those to week to seek it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

**Chapter 6 – There is no good or evil, only power and those to week to seek it** **  
**

Time flew by and before Harry knew it the day for the students to go home for Christmas had come. His days had been rather calm and he couldn't complain, however he would admit that he felt relieved that the students would be going home.

It made him feel less anxious, apparently word had gotten out that he had stunned someone and the students were even more afraid of him. Well most of them were, a few of them looked at him with interest while others, more specifically Colin, were just as enthusiastic about him as always.

The members of the Order of the Phoenix present in the castle did their best to appear to be ignoring him, but he could always tell when he had one or more watch dogs that tried to conceal the fact that they were watching him. They weren't bad, he was just better. With his training and the life he lived it was extremely difficult for him not to notice that he was being watched, no matter how good the person watching him may have been.

Harry wanted to laugh every time he knew that he was being watched, evidently it didn't matter which world he was in, he would always have watch dogs trailing him.

Fortunately things with his family were going rather well, after they had seen his memories they stopped treating him as if he would break. Not that they were overbearing or anything like it, they were just afraid to lose him, and they didn't know what he could do, so they were afraid that he could get in to some sort of trouble and get hurt. He understood of course, they already had lost one son, they didn't want to lose another, even if he technically wasn't their son. However that didn't matter, he was starting to feel like they were his parents and he knew for a fact that they didn't think of him as _Harry_ , the child they had lost. They knew that he was a completely different person to what their _Harry_ would have been like, but they still loved him like a son. James had told him a little while back that he thought of it as if Lily had had twins, but one of them was taken away at birth. They may look alike but where different people, that however didn't mean he loved either of them any less.

The first time he talked in parseltongue with Umbra in front of them was in Harry's opinion quite fun. He specially liked the way Sirius had paled when Umbra slithered all over Sirius to find a comfortable place to take a nap, he had thought that the expression on Sirius's face had been the funniest thing he had ever seen and hadn't been able to contain his laugh. Who would have guest that the great Sirius Black was afraid of snakes?

Harry knew perfectly well that his parents and godparents had a lot of questions to ask him, but the fact that they didn't ask them and trusted him left him feeling happier than what he had felt in a long time. Slowly, very slowly, he was starting to feel at home and with time he would maybe trust these people. At least he hoped so.

* * *

Harry was thinking about taking a walk around the lake when he heard his name being called. Some Gryffindors were coming in his direction with Colin Creevey leading them.

"Hello Colin."

"Harry." exclaimed Colin with a huge smile on his face, "We just wanted to wish you a good holiday..."

"Thank you."

However their conversation was interrupted and Harry sighed lamenting his luck.

"Look if it isn't the little lions." Malfoy mocked while some other Slytherins laughed. "You," Malfoy continued surveying Harry up and down, "You are new here, so let me give some advice. Some wizards are better than others, hanging with the wrong sort could get you killed. The Dark Lord could find some use for someone like you."

Harry looked at Malfoy and blinked. He blinked again. And promptly started laughing, he was laughing so hard that he had to support himself on the wall. After a little bit he controlled himself and managed to say.

"Malfoy where did you get the idea that I was even a little bit interested in serving a psychotic megalomaniac old man with delusions of greatness?"

Harry couldn't tell who was more shocked, if the Gryffindors or the Slytherins. He suspected that none of them had ever heard anyone call the Dark Lord an old man, or maybe none of them had ever heard anyone insult the Dark Lord, he supposed that it was something that simply wasn't done. It was a shame really, they had absolutely no idea just how fun it was to insult the Dark Lord in front of his followers, for some reason they didn't particularly like it, who could have guest?

Malfoy appeared to be the first to come out of his shock and cast a spell before anyone could stop him. Well Harry could have stopped him, but he was interested in seeing what the Malfoy heir would do.

" _Serpensortia_."

And from his wand came a rather big adult black mamba. Malfoy seemed rather satisfied when the Gryffindors all took a step back and looked terrorized at the snake.

Harry sighed again, some things never changed. He was quite disappointed. Really, ' _serpensortia_ '? It was second year all over again, which was rather pathetic considering they were now seventeen. He was expecting something a little more challenging. Harry crouched in front of the snake and looked it in the eye, after only a few seconds the snake bowed it's head in submission and Harry extended his hand in the direction of the snake waiting for the snake to coil around his arm. She did it quickly and soon was around his arm and torso, with her head on his shoulder, it was a position that Umbra often enjoyed.

"What are you doing?" Ron almost squeaked, his Ron would never have let a sound like that leave his mouth.

"I believe it is obvious that I am petting the Christmas gift that Draco gave me." Harry answered him with a smile, though even he admitted that it was far to feral to be considered a smile, but at least it wasn't quite as crazed as it used to be on the battlefield, that should count for something.

"But how can you touch that... that... thing! Everyone knows that snakes are dark, evil."

Harry merely looked at the people who where surrounding him with indifference and said.

"There is no good or evil, only power and those to week to seek it."

And he turned his back to them going in the direction of his room, ignoring the horrified look of those he had left behind.

* * *

After the students went home Harry felt much more at ease. The confrontation he had with the Gryffindors and the Slytherins only served to show him, or better yet, to remind him that these people were strangers and that they probably would never accept who he is, no, not who he is, but who he became.

Good? Evil? For him and for those who stood with him the concept of good and evil became relative in the end of his fifth year. They knew what was right and wrong, but again it was a question about perspective, they knew what was right and wrong for them. He remembered quite clearly how many had shunned them because of their choices, but it was a fight for their survival, and only the strongest survived, so they needed power, power that would give them freedom and who knew, maybe peace as well.

After that to the moment they started using the motto of his greatest enemy was only a matter of time; There is no good or evil, only power and those to week to seek it. They believed in it, they lived by it and they died by it too.

In retrospective Harry admitted that after they started using that motto they became truly feared, and not for the first time Harry asked himself if they would have followed Voldemort's footsteps and the footsteps of his followers. Harry wasn't dumb, he was perfectly aware of the similarities.

Harry spend the whole time until Christmas with similar thoughts, brooding about the guilt he felt, the loneliness that consumed him and the memories that tortured him. He spend his time so disconnected with reality that he didn't even notice all the looks that Snape gave him.

On Christmas morning he pondered the possibility to not go to the Great Hall to have breakfast, but he knew that his family probably wanted to spend the day with him so he got out of bed and went to the Great Hall.

Considering that very few students had stayed at the castle they ate all at the same table, unfortunately Harry was the last to arrive and therefor got for more attention than he wanted. However before he had the chance to sit he was crushed into a hug by his mother and father.

"Happy Christmas Harry." Lily exclaimed with tears in her eyes, he supposed that she had wanted to say that for a long time.

"Happy Christmas mum." he whispered. It still surprised him how easy it had become to say mum and dad, besides that little word brought the both of them so much joy that he thought he would say it even if he felt unconformable using it.

Breakfast was over quickly and Harry asked his family to accompany him to his quarters.

"I... I wanted to give you your Christmas presents in private." he admitted as soon as they were alone in his living-room.

"Oh Harry, there was no need. We are happy with just spending Christmas with you."

Harry just shrugged and gave Sirius a package. Sirius opened his gift and saw that inside was a book and something else that was also wrapped.

"Where did you find this book? They say that there are only four copies left in the world." Sirius exclaimed stunned.

"In my world, that book came from there, I don't know if it's identical, but we rather liked it. We had ten copies if I'm not mistaken. That one was mine, it has some notes on the borders, commentaries about the usefulness of some spells, advantages and disadvantages... things like that. If you don't like it I can..."

"I love it Harry, thank you." Sirius interrupted him with a huge smile on his face.

Still smiling he opened the second gift, when he saw what it was his eyes almost fell out of his face. It was a dragon-hide upper body armor, it was black, with a few dark green highlights and on it's back was the same design as the tattoo on Harry's back.

"Harry! This is really expensive, you didn't need to..."

"I didn't spend anything Sirius. I brought it with me from my world. To me it was nothing more than a reminder of what I lost, to you, well it could be really useful."

Nobody said anything. Though he tried to hide it they could all see the pain Harry felt, that armor was important to him, so Sirius didn't say anything more and just hugged him and thanked him for the gift.

Next was James, his gift were two books. One said ' _Offense_ ' the other ' _Defense_ ' and nothing more. They had no author or anything else that could tell what the books were about, the only other thing on the cover was the same basilisk and phoenix design on the back.

"Those books were written by us," Harry explained, "Attack and defense tactics. Spells, enchantments, curses, it also has rituals and wards. It has a little bit of everything to be honest. Things we created. The books are bigger than they appear. Open one of them on the first page and say; activate. Then say what you want, for example; defensive spells, and on the first page will appear everything that is in the book about that and the one who wrote it. Or if you want something someone specific wrote you say the name of the person and everything that person wrote in the book will appear on the first page. However if you don't activate it the pages will remain blank."

James wasn't the only one that was impressed with the book, they were all looking at the book with curiosity and Remus asked James to try it. James opened the book that said Offense on the first page and said. "Activate. Harry James Potter."

And before his eyes a list with things written by Harry started to appear.

"This is brilliant!" James exclaimed and the proud look in his eyes was impossible to deny.

"It wasn't just my idea, I had help..."

"That doesn't make it any less impressive. I hope Prongs lets me read the books." Remus told him with a smile and the others agreed.

Next Harry gave Lily her gift. It was a photo album, it was filled with pictures of Harry and his friends. Lily was silent for a while, just looking at the pictures of Harry, especially the ones where he was younger. After some time she gave Harry a hug and Harry could see a few tears in her eyes.

Lastly Harry gave Remus his gift. It was a little box with several potions in it.

"Hmm... You gave me potions..."

"Well," Harry started looking a bit nervous, "that potion is called Wolfsbane. It was created in my world, my friends and I just improved it a little bit..."

"Right... And what does it do?" Remus asked looking curiously at the potions in the box.

"Well, it helps with your furry little problem..."

"What?"

"How?"

"What is it?"

"It does what?"

"But how?"

They were asking so many things, all at the same time that Harry had no idea how to answer them. Remus was the only one that was silent, sitting on the couch just looking a the potions inside the little box. Harry took a deep breath and sat in front of Remus and said.

"You take a potion on the day of the full moon, you will still transform however you will keep your mind and it won't hurt. My Moony said that it was as if he were an animagus that could only change on the full moon."

For a few moments nobody said anything, however as soon as they understood what Harry had told them they went nuts. The four friends were jumping up and down, hugging each other, Lily was crying but they had all huge smiles on their faces. None of them remembered having such a happy Christmas in a long time.

* * *

That same evening Albus Dumbledore called for an Order meeting, he didn't like it, he knew that most wanted to be with their families, however Voldemort often attacked during holidays, like Christmas and they had to be prepared. He had only called the members that were more involved with the Order, and they were only waiting for the last few to arrive. Things had changed since the young Potter had arrived, he just didn't know if it was a good or bad change.

Suddenly they heard laughter coming from outside of the Headmaster's office signaling the arrival of the missing members and only a few seconds later the door opened and they entered, all of them with smiles on their faces and three of them with books in their hands. They sat in the vacant chairs, never losing the smile on their faces.

Albus was pleasantly surprised, he hadn't seen these four that happy in a long time, he just hoped that the cause for such happiness didn't cause them any more grieve, he didn't know if they would be able to handle it.

"I'm glad you made it. I suppose you were with Harry and lost track of time...?"

"Yes, we got distracted. We were so excited with the gifts he gave us and some of the stories he told us that we lost track of time." James explained.

Now Albus was curious, any opportunity they had to learn something about Harry was valuable and he knew that the rest of them were also curious, besides he hadn't missed the way his Potions Master observed the boy, maybe they would be able to find something out.

"Oh? He hasn't left the castle since he arrived... Not considering that one time..."

"It's things he brought with him from his old world," Lily explained, "Look what he gave me!" and she showed them the album, "It even as photos of Moody!"

Most of those present were quite shocked, including Moody, and more than one wanted to see the pictures. When Albus asked Lily didn't mind and in no time at all the album was being passed around. The majority were rather surprised by the pictures. At the beginning of the album Ron, Hermione, Neville and others that they had seen grow up were not that different from the ones they knew, but as the years passed the differences became more and more noticeable and by the end of the album they were completely different people, they had nothing to do with the teenagers they knew. They looked older, colder, darker. Their eyes showed a wisdom that the children they knew did not posses. However beside that wisdom was something else, something that Albus had seen in young Harry's eyes. They were haunted however the power behind those eyes was undeniable. The biggest difference were Ron, Hermione and Neville, in one particular picture were the three of them were together with Harry all who saw the picture couldn't help but feel that they looked dangerous. Albus had to wonder what kind of world would make children look like trained soldiers.

Albus hid his anxiety and smiled at Lily.

"It is without a doubt a precious gift," Lily smiled at him, he was about to say something when he noticed that James, Sirius and Remus were all reading a book, not paying attention to what surrounded them, not able to contain his curiosity he asked, "Interesting reading boys?"

The three of them blushed a little and put the books down but answered with an excited look in their eyes.

"Brilliant."

"More gifts from Harry I suppose?"

"Look at the book he gave me!" Sirius exclaimed, showing his book and gaining some surprised looks and a few awed ones as well, even from Albus.

"Where did he get..." Albus started asking.

"It was his, he said that they had ten copies. Ten!"

"Are the books that you and Remus have also that rare?"

"No Albus," James answered with a smile, "The books Harry gave me, this one and the one Remus is reading, are even more rare, this book doesn't exist in this world." James had to contain a laugh when he was the expression on some faces.

"May I see the book James?"

"Sure Albus..."

James gave Albus the book, he couldn't contain the smile when Albus opened the book and only found blank pages. He could only see the word ' _Offense_ ' on the cover and the design on the back. Sirius and Remus couldn't contain their laugh and when Albus looked at them inquiring James explained how the book worked.

It was clear that all those present were impressed with the book, even those that were trying to hide it.

"I only read a bit," James told them, "But it is brilliant. It has spells I have never heard of, enchantments so old that they were already ancient in the time of the founders. And things created by them. They even have strategies for battles in open space. Duels. Everything and anything. It's brilliant. And from what I've seen it was written by our students."

"Our students?" Albus asked interested.

"Yes, Harry obviously, Ron, Ginny, the Weasley twins, Neville, Hermione, Luna Lovegood, Blaise Zabini, Susan Bones and a few others."

Not being able to resist his curiosity, after all James had been an auror for him to find the book interesting it had to have more than school spells, Albus opened the book on the first page and said.

"Activate. Harry James Potter."

And just like when James did it a list with everything that Harry had written in the book appeared, it had things from jinxes and hexes to rituals and wards. Everything was sorted according to what it was and then sorted in to smaller categories depending on what it did.

"Neville Longbottom." Albus said.

And again a similar list appeared.

"Enchantments."

And another list appeared.

"Impressive," Albus almost whispered, talking more to himself than to those around, though they were still able to hear him, "Truly impressive. I wonder if these same people would be able to do the same thing here."

"What do you mean Albus?" Frank asked, looking a little angry, he didn't like what the Headmaster was implying.

"Frank from what you know of your son do you believe he would be someone that would teach muggle combat? Martial arts? Or that he would write about battle strategy or duel tactics? Or battle magic?" seeing the look on Frank's face he added, "I am not saying that the people in our world are weaker. However I believe it is obvious that the children in the world where Harry came from had a very different education than the one our children had."

Albus gave James the book back and looked at Remus curiously.

"Did you also get a book?"

"No," Remus answered with a smile, "I got something much better."

With a smile on his face and his eyes shinning he proceeded to explain what Harry had gotten him. Not even Snape's constant muttering spoiled his good mood.

Albus was a little apprehensive. He was happy for Remus, but not one of those things helped him feel more confident about Harry. He had knowledge that a seventeen year old boy should not have. And every time he observed Harry, his mannerisms, the way he spoke, even the way he moved, made him think about a young boy he had know.

"I don't trust Potter." his Potion Master practically growled bringing him back to the present.

"Now Severus..."

"No Albus. I remember... Albus... The way the boy talks, the way he moves, his mannerisms, Albus you can't say that he doesn't remind you of..."

"Snape, you were never someone to beat around the bush," Moody grumbled, "Spit it out."

"I remember how the Dark Lord was, how he spoke, how he moved, he had a serpentine grace about him. And when I see the boy he behaves the same way, he has the same mannerisms. Until a few days back I hadn't associated the two of them. Something happened however, I saw something and it clicked."

"What did you see Severus?" Albus was curious, he had thought that he had been the only one that had see the similarities, but if Severus had noticed and if it was something that left him so apprehensive than maybe he had more reasons to keep an eye on young Harry than what he thought.

"A few days ago, when the students were going home, I saw Malfoy and a few Slytherins, confront Potter, he was with a few Gryffindors. Malfoy basically told him to join the Dark Lord if he knew what was good for him. For a few seconds nobody said anything, then Potter started laughing, laughing! After he had himself under control, he told Malfoy, and I quote; ' _Malfoy were did you get the idea that I was even a little bit interested in serving a psychotic megalomaniac old man with delusions of greatness?_ '. Honestly I don't know who was more shocked, the students or I. I don't know what I was expecting to hear but that certainly wasn't it. As you can imagine Malfoy didn't like what he heard and he used the spell ' _serpensortia_ ', considering the situation was getting dangerous I was about to interfere when Potter crouched in front of the snake and let it slither up his arm and around his torso. I didn't find that all that strange, considering that the boy has a snake, I thought that he had learned how to deal with them. However Weasley started to say that snakes were dark and evil and all the usual things people say about snakes and that's when things changed. I doubt the students noticed it, it was a little change in his posture, then his eyes even the snake didn't look as harmless as before. He didn't look like a teenager anymore, when he spoke his voice was cold, however you could hear the promises hidden in it, an unsaid challenge, an unexpressed invitation, and a cruel smile on his lips and that's when it became obvious to me who he reminded me of."

"What did he say Severus?" Albus asked calmly, Snape slowly lifted his head, he hadn't even realized he had lowered it, and said.

"There is no good or evil, only power and those to week to seek it."

Most of those present paled, in one or another point in their lives they had all heard that sentence.

Snape remembered the promises that that sentence had, the invitation, the temptation of forbidden knowledge.

Albus remembered the lives that were lost following that sentence, destroyed futures, lost minds and a brilliant young man who created that sentence.

And the majority of the others remembered that sentence as the motto of the most feared Dark Wizard of all time, the motto of the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort.


	7. Meeting Tom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

**Chapter 7 – Meeting Tom** **  
**

The last week of the Christmas break was a bit strange, Harry wasn't sure but he could have sworn that the members of the Order were looking at him differently. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it but it looked like the fear in their eyes when they looked at him had increased. Truthfully, it wouldn't have surprised him if it had, what surprised him was that it had increased at that particular time. As far as he knew he hadn't done anything that could be considered violent, he hadn't even read the books about certain types of magic that could be considered questionable by certain people out in the open. However consider that the way his family treated him and looked at him hadn't changed he did his very best to ignore everyone else, he was quite good at ignoring people, he had years of practice.

When the students came back Harry saw some of the Slytherin and Gryffindor students looking at him when they thought he wasn't looking, apparently the little altercation that they had had with Harry hadn't been forgotten. He had to contain a sigh every time he caught one of them looking, it was incredible, no matter the world he always had to have some kind of attention on him.

Fate, God, Gods, the Powers that be or whatever must truly hate him or maybe he had destroyed whole civilizations in some past live and now he was suffering the consequences, whatever it was Harry was getting tired of it.

That Sunday the sun was shinning and though it was still winter it wasn't that cold outside and Harry wanted to fly, it seemed such a long time since he had been up in the air. He told Umbra where he was going and asked her to tell Licentia if she asked, having done that he took his broom and left his room.

While he was heading to the great doors he almost bumped into Hermione and Neville and had to resist the urge to curse. The last thing he wanted was to see either of them. Seeing they were trying to carry some sort of strange plant without much success he couldn't help but ask.

"Err... Do you need any help?"

"Oh, thank you," Hermione answered looking a bit relieved, "We have to take them to the Quidditch stands, it's our herbology project and there is where the sun is hitting best."

"I was on my way to the pitch... I'm Harry by the way."

"He's Neville and I'm Hermione."

"Pleasure."

So, not really wanting to and cursing himself for offering, the three of them went to the pitch in silence. Harry didn't want to but he felt incredibly uncomfortable. They were Hermione and Neville, but they weren't.

She wasn't the girl that had held him when Sirius had died, she wasn't the girl that had supported his crazy ideas for revenge. Nor was she the girl that had slept at his side when he was having nightmares that haunted him. She wasn't the girl he had loved like a sister. This was a cruel reminder of what he had lost. A sample of what he could no longer have.

Neville was also a shadow of the man he had been. Harry was able to see traces of Nev, traces of the man he had trained with, traces of the man he trusted in, traces of the man he killed for. However that was all it was, traces of the brother he lost.

Maybe this was his punishment for having lived. There wasn't a day that he didn't blame himself for having survived when they didn't, for having a second chance when they hadn't. But in moments like these he couldn't help but wonder if he had in fact survived. Maybe he hadn't, maybe his corps was in that battlefield that used to be Hogwarts's grounds, surrounded by friends and enemies, maybe this was his version of hell, a constant reminder of what he had lost, maybe this was his punishment for all the death and destruction he had caused, maybe...

When they arrived at the pitch he left the other two, mounted his Firebolt and as soon as he was up in the sky all those thoughts left his mind. The sky was where he felt at home, there he could leave his ghosts behind, there, even if it was for only a moment, he had peace, freedom.

Not paying attention to anything else he gave himself over to the sensation of flying, of being free, of having no limitations. He wasn't able to contain the laugh that escaped his throat, it felt as if it had been years since he had felt so relaxed. He was so absorbed in his flying that he only noticed the group on the pitch below when he heard them cheer. It looked like several students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and some professors. Now that he thought about it he remembered James and Sirius talking about it, every year after the Christmas break there was a little friendly Quidditch tournament between all those who wanted to play. He should have remembered, sighing he landed beside them, noticing that Neville and Hermione where still in the stands with those strange plants.

Now he was able to identify the professors as James, Sirius, Remus and Frank. James and Sirius were looking at him with a huge smile on their faces and James appeared to want to say something, however before he had the chance the students were around him, talking all at once.

"Why didn't you tell us that you could fly that well?" Ron exclaimed.

"Did you see that dive?" Dean asked no one in particular.

"Hey can you play for our team?" Seamus asked looking excited.

"Why for your team?" Terry objected.

"Boys," Frank interrupted them, "Technically he can't play for any team because he isn't a student."

"That isn't..."

One of the students started, however a scream was heard across the pitch followed by an explosion that destroyed part of the stands. Harry looked around and felt his heart stop.

* * *

The scene that surrounded him made his heart stop, it brought back to many memories about is world. Surrounding them were a little over two dozens Death Eaters and the stands were Hermione and Neville were sitting were completely destroyed. And the people he had with him were nothing more than children. Just perfect.

As soon as he lifted his wand he had ten wands pointed in his direction, it was just like old times.

Harry smiled.

' _Reducto_ ' he thought and a Death Eater was hit fully on his chest and the fight started.

To his surprise they were only firing stunners and other curses that incapacitated but didn't kill or maim, he didn't really understand why, well unless they were under orders, but he had no idea why they would be. The four professors were trying to protect the other students however James didn't stop screaming for Harry to take cover.

But Harry wasn't listening, it had been a long time since he had been in a fight and he was having fun. He had to stop himself from cackling, now he only needed his Hunters. However he wasn't so far gone that he didn't notice that they weren't fighting to kill, nor were all of them fighting.

"Stop!" Lucius Malfoy's voice was heard above the screaming, he appeared from behind the stands, two Death Eaters following him and they had their wands pointing at Neville's and Hermione's throats and both of them had tears running down their cheeks.

"It would be better if you lower your wand boy or your little friends here will die." Lucius told him with that smug little smirk he always had, even in death.

Harry cursed, if it were is Nev and Mione those bastards would already be dead, but they weren't and so there wasn't much he could do. Without any other choice he put both of his wands on the ground, he had been only using his phoenix wand, however he thought it better not to take any chances, he didn't want to be the reason why this Neville and Hermione died, he did it without ever taking his eyes of Lucius and the other two Death Eaters, you couldn't trust a Death Eater as far as you could trow him and if they even twitched wrong, well they only told him to put his wands down, they never said anything about not killing them, it were completely different things.

Now that he was unarmed the other Death Eaters were focusing on the group a little behind Harry, keeping the four professors occupied.

"Watch out Harry!" Ron screamed but it was too late.

" _Crucio_!" he heard Rabastan's voice right behind him and he went down.

The worst pain imaginable shot trough his body but Harry didn't scream. Never again, he had sworn to himself, he would never again give them the pleasure of seeing him in pain, of hearing him scream, besides that _crucio_ was nothing compared to Voldemort's.

"That's enough! Our Lord wants him whole!" Lucius hissed, "Get his wands."

Rabastan did as he was told but his eyes promised more pain, it appeared that he was as much of a sadist here as he had been in Harry's world. When Rabastan bent down to pick up Harry's wands, both of them disappeared in a bright flame, one gold and red and the other green and black.

They all stared at the space where the wands had been, including Harry, that had never happened before.

"Forget the wands then," Lucius snarled, "Let's go!"

The last thing Harry saw was five stunners coming his way and then blessed darkness.

* * *

Harry groaned, being stunned always gave him headaches. He continued to stay with his eyes closed trying to alleviate the pain, he could still feel the effects of the _Cruciatus_ , Harry cursed, he should always have his potion kit with him.

"I think he is waking up." said a voice to that he knew rather well making him open his eyes. There with him in his cell, in what he supposed was Voldemort's headquarters, were Ron, Neville and Hermione. Harry groaned again.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Well we aren't here because we want to, you know..." Hermione started to say in that tone she usually had when she thought that some was being particularly dense.

"I guess not...," muttered Harry, trying to hide a smile, it was good to see that certain parts of his sister lived on in her counterpart, "But Ron how did you get here?"

"That Death Eater that used the Unforgivable on you, well I tried to stop him but another one caught me and brought me here."

"And your wands?"

"Hermione and Neville left theirs in their dorms and mine stayed in the changing rooms."

Harry sighed, this just served to remind Harry that these people were nothing like his Hunters no matter how much similarities they had. But now was not the time to think about it, he had to find some way to get out of there.

"Do you know how many guards there are?"

"We didn't see anyone, but behind that door we can hear voices, almost always two different voices, sometimes a third voice." Hermione told him.

"And do you know how long we have been here?"

"Maybe a day," Neville answered, "They opened that door three times. The first time you could see daylight, the second time you couldn't and the third time was just a little before you woke up and there was daylight again."

"Right, thank you. I think it's time to leave then."

"Leave?" Ron squeaked, "Harry, mate, we are locked in a cell! Without wands!"

"With Death Eaters keeping guard." Hermione continued, "And we don't know how many there are."

"Trying to leave here is suicide." concluded Neville.

"No, staying here is suicide, besides I always liked pissing of Tom..."

The other three looked at him as if he was crazy and Ron turned to the other two and whispered.

"Who's Tom?"

Naturally the other two didn't know the answer and Harry was immersed in his thoughts and wasn't paying him the least bit of attention. After a few minutes Harry got up and told them.

"OK, this is what we are going to do and if you want to get out of here alive and whole you will do as I say without complaining, am I clear?"

The three teens nodded, they didn't know why but they got the feeling that they didn't really have a choice in the matter and it had nothing to do with the fact that they were prisoners in You-Know-Who's headquarters.

"Great, this is what we are going to do then. I am going to blow up the door of our cell, neutralize the guards that show up, while I do that the three of you will stay in that corner without making a sound, as soon as I have taken care of the guards you will come to my side and climb on my back and we will leave. As far as plans go, it isn't perfect, but considering that I have to take care of the three of you it's the best I could think of."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something but one look from Harry made her close her mouth again and the three of them did what they were told.

Harry smiled, turned to face the door, pointed with his right hand in it's direction and said.

" _Reducto._ "

The next moment the door blew up and they could hear voices shouting. Four Death Eaters appeared in the corridor and the three students could only look on in awe as Harry shot spells from both hands and one of the Death Eaters flew against the wall with a sickening crack without Harry having to even shoot a spell against him, Harry had just looked at him. The fight took less than one minute and the three students were looking at him with shock and awe when Harry called them. Ron was about to ask how he wanted them to climb on his back when Harry started to change and in his place was an enormous griffin, completely black with green eyes. They looked at him with their eyes wide open for a few seconds until Harry made an impatient noise and they climbed on to his back. It was a bit of a tight fit but their comfort wasn't a priority at the moment, they had far more pressing matters at hand.

Leaving the building where they were was relatively easy, the problems started when they got out. The Death Eaters that were outside started throwing spells at them, and even though he tried he couldn't move with the same ease as he usually did because of the ones on his back, a curse ended up hitting him on a wing and part of his torso and Harry lost some altitude which led to him being hit with a _cruciatus._ Through sheer willpowerhe managed to land safely, even though that was rather relative considering where he landed, before throwing the others from his back and changing back, fortunately the _cruciatus_ had been canceled so he was able to remain on his feet. When he turned to see if his friends were alright and saw them looking at a point a little behind himself without so much as a drop of blood in their faces Harry started having a really bad feeling. Turning slowly he focused his attention on the same thing as the other three and with a sigh muttered.

"Oh fuck."

* * *

That little sentence described the situation perfectly. There, in front of him, surrounded by about thirty Death Eaters was Tom Riddle, better know as Voldemort, this was really not his day, lamented Harry. Not that Harry was afraid of Tom, he just didn't want to deal with him, much less at that particular moment.

Nobody moved, nobody said anything and Tom just looked at him, as if with a simple look he could find all of his secrets or kill him or maybe he was waiting for Harry to fall on his knees and beg for mercy, who knew what a psychopath thought?

Harry sighed again and said.

"Hello Tom."

The Death Eaters exchanged a glace, wondering who the hell Tom was and Voldemort raised a brow, though for those that knew him as well as Harry did it was quite easy to see the anger that appeared momentary only to be overshadowed by curiosity. Seeing as they continued to not say anything Harry continued to talk.

"You know Tom, if you don't mind, my friends and I will be leaving, you know how it is, it's been some time since your incompetent slaves kidnapped us, some people must be staring to worry..."

Before Harry stopped speaking a Death Eater that apparently hadn't liked what Harry had said cast a curse that would have broken all the bones of Harry body. Faster than they thought was possible Harry had raised a shield with his left hand and with his right hand cast a curse that turned the unfortunate Death Eater inside out, Harry was starting to get annoyed.

"I was talking! I do not like getting interrupted. Besides it is rather rude to attack an unarmed opponent."

Surprising the Death Eaters and Harry's friends, Voldemort laughed.

"You don't look unarmed to me boy. And I have to congratulate you for that impressive curse. But why would you want to leave? Those that call themselves Light would shun you without a second thought for using a curse like that. Dark, evil they call it."

Harry smiled, a smile identical to the one the Death Eaters often saw on the face of their master, identical to the one he had now and it made their blood freeze. That there existed someone that could stand up to their master like that, with no fear in their eyes and behaved somewhat like him couldn't be a good sign.

"Light? Dark? Good? Evil? It has been a long time since I distinguished them Tom. After all, there is no good or evil, only power and those to week to seek it, don't you agree?" Harry answered him and with a small smile he added, "And you Tom, have no power that would interest me."

Voldemort felt a shiver go down his spine, there was something about the boy, he didn't know what it was, but there was something about him that left him almost apprehensive, something in those eyes that were the color of death. The boy wasn't refusing him because he didn't want the power that he had, the boy was refusing him because he believed that he already possessed the power that he could offer. In a deceptively calm voice, just a little above a whisper he asked.

"Who are you boy?"

Surprising all those present, including the Dark Lord, Harry laughed.

"Tom, I know how much you love mysteries, do you really think I would take the pleasure from solving this one from you? When you find out tell me, then we can talk a bit more or have a duel or something just as interesting. In the meanwhile, see you around. I wish you the rest of a good day."

Not wasting a second Harry changed back into a griffin and the other three climbed back on his back, it was faster than what he believed possible, but Harry thought that being surrounded by Death Eaters would make anyone move faster than usual, he was just glad that they hadn't frozen in fear, and with a powerful flap of his wings he took flight.

When a Death Eater pointed in their direction, Voldemort stopped him.

"My Lord?" asked the Death Eater confused.

"Let them go. The boy is right, I always enjoy a good mystery. Damage?"

"Five killed my Lord."

"Killed?"

"Yes, my Lord. From those that were attacked none survived."

"Intentional or accidental?"

"From what we saw intentional my Lord, it was impossible to survive with the injuries they had."

"I see. Call Lucius and Rabastan, we have a mystery to solve."

* * *

Harry could hardly believe that they had gotten out of there so easily, fortunately this Voldemort appeared to be a bit less insane than the on from his world, which he had to admit helped a lot in their _escape,_ well he could hardly call it an escape when Voldemort practically let them walk out of there or fly. He wondered if it had anything to do with the time his Voldemort spend as little more than a spirit, he guessed that that would leave anyone insane or more insane considering who he was talking about.

Now they only needed to fly back to Hogwarts, which was easier said than done. If he was not mistaken Hogwarts was a few hundreds miles away and he was losing blood, not as much as he could have been, considering that he, almost as soon as he landed, had cast a charm to slow the blood flow and numb the area but even so, if left untreated for a long time it could become problematic, on the other hand he was able to fly at quite high speeds so it was a matter of willpower.

The sun was already setting when Harry saw the castle in the distance. ' _Finally!_ ' he thought, is vision was getting blurry and he didn't think he would have been able to hold on for much longer.

As soon as he felt the Hogwarts wards Harry landed and having strength for nothing else he transformed back and lost consciousness.

Ron and Neville ran to the castle, while Hermione stayed beside Harry trying to stop the blood flow. Ron and Neville opened the doors to the great hall with a bang, not caring that they almost gave everyone inside a heart-attack, unfortunately only some students were present, not really knowing where to look for help they started running to the Headmaster's office, hoping that the professors were there, but before they could reach the entrance to the office, the gargoyle that protected the entrance jumped aside and several professors and other adults, including the Headmaster appeared.

"Professor!" Ron yelled shocking those present.

"Harry! Outside... injured!" Neville managed to say out of breath, taking the others out of their shocked state.


	8. Soldiers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> A.N.: *Order members present; James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Frank, Alice, Arthur, Molly, Charlie, Bill, Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Albus.

**Chapter 8 – Soldiers**

For the first time in many years Albus felt old. Three students had been kidnapped from Hogwarts' grounds. Three! And he, Albus Dumbledore, considered the most powerful wizard alive, hadn't been able to do anything to stop it.

They had discussed the option of rescuing them with the ministry, but they had no idea where the students were, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Albus sighed frustrated, they couldn't do much more than wait.

A day had passed and there were no news, neither good or bad and they still hadn't found a way to track the students.

Slowly the members of the order started to appear. Eight of them looking particularly grave. Albus felt a stab of guilt, for a few moments he had forgotten that young Harry had also been taken. And according to Frank the boy's wands had simply vanished, it was really peculiar. But now was not the time to think about it, they had to find a way to track the children, only that mattered. When the last order member arrived Albus smiled at them, even if it was a bit half-hardheartedly.

"Thank you for coming."

"Are there any news Albus?" Alice asked him with tears in her eyes. Albus sighed again, this never got any easier.

"No, dear. There is nothing new."

"Do... Do you think they are still alive?" Molly asked her voice cracking with her efforts to control her sobbing.

"I don't know Molly. I don't want to give you hope, nor take it away, without having any type of prove that shows one thing or the other."

The group grew visibly more somber.

"We just got him back... I can't lose him again..." Lily cried leaning into her husband.

"Lose him?" Frank shouted, "It's his fault! I heard the Death Eater say that their Lord wanted to see him! It's all his fault! He should never have come here."

In an instant James, Sirius and Remus were up, their wands out and aiming at Frank's chest.

"Don't you dare Frank..." James snarled, his face darker than what they had seen in a long time. It was easy to see why he was one of the most respected and feared aurors before he had left.

"Don't talk about Harry like that." Sirius' voice was cold and for the first time in many years the gathered order members could see the Black's influence in Sirius. Sirius was such an easygoing guy that they sometimes forgot where he came from and what he was taught.

Remus just snarled, but they could see his eyes going amber, showing the wolf that he so hard tried to control. It seemed that he was letting go of that side of him now.

Albus was amazed by how attached they had become of Harry, how far they would go to protect him. He wondered if Harry knew and if he would go to the same lengths to protect them.

"Calm down, nobody is going to do anything to Harry," he assured them, "We are all tired and worried. We can't fight amongst ourselves, that doesn't help in any way."

Reluctantly the three sat down, though they still glared at Frank, promising that only bad things would happen to him if he even looked at Harry in a way that they didn't like.

Albus sighed again, he was doing that a lot lately. He didn't know what to make of how close the four Order members had gotten to Harry. He was sure that it was not only the fact that he was their son, even if he was another dimension. And that brought the question, what did they know about Harry that made them so protective of him? What had Harry told them, that they hadn't shared with the Order? He was almost certain that if it was something important they would inform the Order, though he had to wonder if they would consider the same things as important. He remembered that afternoon when Severus shared with the Order what he had seen and heard Harry doing with the snake. Though they had tried to hide it, they were nowhere near as surprised or frightened by Harry's use of the Dark Lord's motto as the others were. He wanted to believe that if they suspected or knew that Harry was in anyway involved with the Dark Lord in his world, or that he could be dangerous that they would at least tell him, but he was having doubts.

"I believe it's better if we ended the meeting," he told them, doing his best to not think about the four, "It is clear that emotions are running high. I believe it would be best if we meet tomorrow, when we are a little bit more calm."

When they were leaving the Headmaster's office, they were surprised by the shout of a student.

"Professor!"

They could only look at the two students with completely amazed expressions, two students that they thought only minutes ago were missing.

"Harry! Outside, hurt!"

That simple sentence brought them all out of their stupor.

* * *

As soon as they heard young Neville they acted and ran outside, all except the Weasleys and Longbottoms, they crushed both boys in a hug and led them to the infirmary, not listening to the boys protest, telling them that they were fine.

Outside they found Harry on the ground, his clothes soaked in blood and Hermione Granger, with tears in her eyes, had his head in her lap, her hands on the wound he had on his torso. As fast as they could they took him to the infirmary, where Poppy was already looking over the two boys.

"Poppy, he's badly hurt." James yelled, trying not to sound as hysterical as he felt.

Poppy looked at them and as soon as she saw the blood she immediately went to take care of him, leaving Neville who she had been looking over. Frank started to protest, though stunning all of them Neville was the one who stopped him.

"That's enough dad! We don't even have one scratch. We are fine, tired but fine. Harry is the one who got hurt, he only got hurt because of us."

After that no one said anything, still too stunned that Neville, shy, awkward Neville, would yell at someone, much less his own father.

After almost twenty minutes, Poppy finished.

"He's going to be fine. Now he just needs rest and as little movement as possible as long as the wound isn't healed."

Albus nodded and looked at the three teens that were still conscious.

"Now, do you mind telling me what happened?"

Contrary to what they were expecting, none of them went into a detailed explanation of what had occurred, they just looked at each other, then at Harry and finally to the others present in the room.

"We got kidnapped," Ron finally answered, "Harry saved us. We came back to Hogwarts."

For a few moments nobody said anything, every one of them waiting for one of the three to contribute to the explanation. When it became apparent that they wouldn't be doing it, most of those present started to talk all at once. Only after Albus called for it, did they calm down.

"Mr. Weasley, we are going to need more than that. In fact it would be better if the three of you would give us the memories of those events."

Now was the teens time to protest, making their refusal quite vocal, again surprising the Order members, it wasn't everyday they saw someone refuse the Headmaster.

"I'm sorry, but I will have to insist."

"So be it," Neville answered, refusing to look at his parents, when he saw that they agreed with the Headmaster, he knew that what Harry had done wasn't considered light magic, at least the last curse, he also knew that the way Harry reacted to the Dark Lord wasn't normal. No one, at least no one sane, would interact with a Dark Lord so casually, as if talking to a friend almost. He also knew that the other two thought the same thing, the last thing he wanted was for Harry to get in trouble after having saved their lives, but with his parents consent he could do nothing but obey, "Though we do it against our will."

"And keep in mind that he did save us." Hermione added.

Albus took out his wand and conjured a little flask, then he proceeded to extract the memories from the three students. When he had finished the three students left the infirmary, not saying another word, not even stopping when they heard their parents call them. They knew they had been worried, but to show so little regard to the one who had saved them was something that didn't sit well with them, they were just letting them know it, in the only way they could.

Albus took a deep breath, it appeared that Harry was able to gain deep loyalty from all those he interacts with. He wondered if they were only grateful or if they were really starting to feel loyal to the boy. He just didn't understand the boy or knew what he was able to do, in less than 48 hours he had escaped from the Dark Lord, something no one had ever done.

"I suggest that we view this memories in my office. We can make any decisions after viewing them."

At the beginning the Potters were reluctant about leaving Harry's side, but after Poppy assured them that Harry would be sleeping for a few hours at least they followed the rest of the Order. Deep down they were just as curious as the rest.

As soon as Albus put the memories in the pensive the seventeen* Order members entered the pensive.

When they had gained their balance back, after having landed in the pensive, they saw that they were in a cell. Harry was on the floor near the back wall and the other three were sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall. Harry moved and groaned.

Neville poked Ron in the side.

"I think he is waking up."

As soon as Harry was up they saw him take control of the situation.

"Stop it." Moody asked and Albus paused the memory looking at him.

"What is it Alastor?"

"Did you see how the boy behaved?"

"Yes, what about it?" Bill asked curiously.

"What about it? With just three questions we were able to see that it's a situation that he appears rather used to. Most tend to panic when they find themselves captive. It is also obvious that he is used to lead. We are here to learn things about the boy. Pay attention!"

"Can we continue Alastor?"

"Of course Albus."

Albus restarted the memory, noting that most were looking more alert.

They heard Harry tell the others that it was time to leave and ignore the others protests. When Harry smiled and said that he liked to piss Tom of Albus paled, only a few noticed but thought it best not to comment. They observed in silence and when Harry shared his plan with the others, more than one of them muttered the word _'impossible'_ and ' _suicide_ '.

Though that only lasted a few seconds. As soon as Harry blew the cell's door up with wandless magic they were astound, Sirius had to close James' mouth with his hand, muttering about flies getting in. Many were in the same state as James. Those that didn't show their surprise with the ' _Reducto_ ' certainly did with the fight. In about a minute, without saying a single spell, Harry had neutralized the four guards.

"Stop!" Moody asked again, "What was that Albus?"

"Wandless and wordless magic. Wordless magic is something that many wizards are able to do. Wandless not so much..."

"Not that Albus. The last Death Eater, the boy just looked at him that wasn't wandless magic and you know it."

"Yes, though I don't know what it is, maybe he found another way to manipulate magic. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Albus, I hate to state the obvious," Snape started saying, looking his usual controlled self, though Albus could see the slight apprehension his eyes, "But the boy escaped from the Dark Lord, neutralizing with astonishing ease four guards. He fought against three Death Eaters, two of them from the inner circle and survived practically uninjured. Is it safe to keep the boy here?"

"First it's better if we let young Harry wake up," Albus said, trying to ignore the death glares that were being send Severus from four other members, "After that we will make those decisions." Albus considered himself extremely lucky that only basilisks could kill with their eyes, if he wasn't mistaken the Potters, Remus and Sirius, were trying to mimic the effects, "I believe that we should continue with the memory now, agreed?"

Seeing that no one said anything Albus continued.

And so before their eyes they saw Harry transform into a griffin and escape the holding cells. They saw Harry evade spells and curses. Lily and Alice gave a surprised scream when they saw Harry get hit, they knew that he had been injured, but it was far worse to see it happen. When the Cruciatus curse hit him, even Moody felt a stab of respect for the boy, after all not everyone would have been able to remain in control enough to land safely and transform back.

Then they were faced with the nightmare that haunted their nights, Harry's "Oh fuck" was an apt description to what most were felling.

Most of them had never seen the Dark Lord in person and the look that Voldemort was giving Harry made most of them want to run away, beg for mercy, because they were certain that after that look only death could follow, however, surprising them, Harry only sighed and said "Hello Tom."

The order members almost had a heart-attack right then and there. Tom! He called the Dark Lord Tom. Hadn't he said before that he liked to piss of Tom? Who in their right mind _likes_ to piss of a Dark Lord?! Though again surprising the Order members Harry continued to talk.

"You know Tom, if you don't mind, my friends and I will be leaving, you know how it is, it's been some time since your incompetent slaves kidnapped us, some people must be staring to worry..."

The Order watched on, fascinated at the calm Harry projected, talking with the Dark Lord as if they were acquaintances, friends even, merely talking about the weather.

Molly gave a little surprised scream when a yellow curse was shot at Harry. Reacting faster than what they thought possible Harry cast a shield with one hand and a curse with the other. The curse left many members a bit green in the face. And the rest had their eyes fixed on Harry not able to deny the power that shined in those green eyes.

"I was talking!" Harry said in a deceivingly calm voice, showing that he was getting annoyed, though the situation was quite different James and Sirius knew that voice well, it generally came after they teased or prank him, what followed would be several hours of humiliating pranks that they could never see coming, "I do not like getting interrupted. Besides it is rather rude to attack an unarmed opponent."

When Voldemort laughed the Order members could only look dumbfounded at the sight, that was a reaction that none of them had been expecting. The amusement was there in his eyes for all to see, Severus felt a shiver go down his spine, he didn't think that anything that could amuse the Dark Lord would be in anyway a good thing.

"You don't look unarmed to me boy. And I have to congratulate you for that impressive curse. But why would you want to leave? Those that call themselves Light would shun you without a second thought for using a curse like that. Dark, evil they call it."

When Harry smiled, the Order couldn't believe how similar they looked, with that same smile, it was far to feral to be a smile, they could see the Death Eaters tense, just as they were.

"Light? Dark? Good? Evil? It has been a long time since I distinguished them Tom. After all, there is no good or evil, only power and those to week to seek it, don't you agree?" and with a smile, that froze the Order's blood he added, "And you Tom, have no power that would interest me."

Albus almost gaped when he saw Voldemort's reaction, and he wasn't the only one that noticed the Dark Lord's expression when he asked "Who are you boy?".

Again surprising most of those watching, Harry only laughed.

"Tom, I know how much you love mysteries, do you really think I would take the pleasure from solving this one from you? When you find out tell me, then we can talk a bit more or have a duel or something just as interesting. In the meanwhile, see you around. I wish you the rest of a good day."

They saw Harry change back in to a griffin and fly away, Voldemort doing nothing to stop them. With that the memory ended and they left the pensive.

Absolute silence filled the office of Albus Dumbledore. Most were still trying to understand the memories they had seen. They knew what they had seen, but it was still difficult to grasp that a child had done what they had seen Harry do. They knew that the memories were real, they just couldn't comprehend how it was possible. Most of them couldn't help but feel a stab of fear, what else was the boy able to do?

"I believe it is best if we have someone on guard for when young Harry wakes up. I know that you would like to," he said when he saw that the Potters, Sirius and Remus were about to volunteer, "But you have classes to teach and Poppy did say that he would still sleep for a while, you can't always be with him."

Though they didn't like it, they agreed and Albus concluded the meeting, leaving most of the members lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

Bill Weasley sighed frustrated, he really had bad luck. With so many order members with free time, he had to be the one they chose to keep guard. What were they thinking? Hadn't they seen the same memories as he? Did they really think that he could stop the kid? But did they think of that? Of course not, so now there he was, sitting in a chair beside the kid.

That was the first time he had the opportunity to see him up close. He appeared to be around 5.6ft, with black heir that had, when the light hit it, a deep red sheen. It was a little long, it just brushed his shoulders. He looked a little like James, though there was no doubt that he had some characteristics from Lily, such as the shape of the eyes, the nose and the mouth. All in all, though quite beautiful, he looked like a normal seventeen year old.

How could a teen stand in front of the Dark Lord without a trace of fear in his eyes? He was twenty-six and he begged Merlin that he never had to face the Dark Lord, and he was sure that he wasn't the only one, no matter how courageous they say they are. So how could the teen in front of him do it?

Bill sighed again, what type of life did he have to make him in to the person he had seen in the memories. He wasn't sure that he wanted to know. A slight movement on the bed made him look and he saw Harry turning from one side to the other. There were tears on Harry's cheeks and for a few moments he didn't really know what to do.

Abruptly Harry got up shouting "No" and he opened his eyes tears falling from them. Bill didn't know what lead him to do what he did, but one moment he was in his chair not knowing what to do and the next he was hugging Harry, telling him that everything was alright. To his astonishment Harry hugged him back, holding on to him as if his life depended on it and started to sob silently in his arms.

Between the sobbing he heard Harry mutter things that he couldn't understand, though he could have sworn that he heard the name 'Bill' more than once.

Suddenly Harry stopped and tensed, as quickly as it had started it ended and he let go of Bill.

Bill was frozen in place, he had no idea about what he should do or say. For a few seconds he was able to see such a deep sadness though it was quickly masked.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, looking as if he hadn't been sobbing his heart out just a few moments ago, "I forgot that I wasn't in my world..."

Bill just nodded, what else could he do? This boy looked nothing like the one from the memories.

"I suppose that the Order assigned you as my watch-dog?"

"You could say that..." Bill answered, he was expecting Harry to get rather angry, though he just looked at him and smiled and Bill could swear that there was a mischievous light in his eyes and a challenge as well.

"I believe that you know what happened then?"

"Yes, we saw the others' memories."

"Ah... Then I don't know if I should feel insulted, relieved or both."

"What do you mean?"

"Really Bill? You can't be that different from my Bill. From what you saw do you think that one guard would be able to stop me? That's the insult. However if you are here just to accompany me to talk to Albus, then I would feel some relieve because that would show that you are at least giving me the opportunity to explain. Though if you are really here to detain me it would be an insult you are only one and I would be able to deal with the situation in seconds that's the relieve. So, which of the situations is it?"

Bill didn't say anything for several moments. The kid left him perplexed. He was obviously powerful, perceptive, intelligent and charismatic. He couldn't help but asked himself who he was in his world. Obviously he knew that he was Harry Potter, what he wanted to know wasn't who he was but _who_ he was. Thinking about it did him no good and he wasn't about to ask, if Harry wanted him to know he would tell him and considering just how little he actually talked about himself or his home-world, Bill didn't think that he would be finding out anytime soon.

"The second one." he ended up answering gaining a small smile from Harry.

"Great, let's go see Albus then."

After Harry had dressed and freshened up, he refused to go anywhere near the order looking like he had been run over by a dragon, impressions were important after all, he couldn't look like an injured child in front of them, otherwise that would be the way they would treat him, they left for the Headmaster's office.

Bill didn't want to admit it but the boy intimidated him. He had a confident air around him, but at the same time he appeared friendly and approachable. Bill didn't know what to make of him. Aside from that, since he had heard Harry say 'my Bill' that he was dying to ask what the relationship between the two in their world was. He was brought out of his thoughts by a quiet chuckle, startled he looked to his right and saw Harry looking at him.

"Apparently some things never change," Harry told him with a smile, "You can ask me whatever you want. I don't bite, much. If I don't want to answer it I will tell you."

"Did you know me well."

"Yes, I did. Though we had less time together than what I would have liked. I meet my Bill when I was fourteen. Though only after my fifth year did we start to really spend time together. To tease Ron I used to tell him that you were my favorite Weasley."

"So were you close to me? To him? This can get confusing..."

"Tell me about it. Sometimes it's so easy to forget that they are not the same people. Most have quite similar personalities. But then with a simple sentence, a simple look, I remember that they couldn't be any different. How could they? They had such different lives. This Ron will never be the Ron I knew. He didn't suffer as much. Didn't cry as much. Didn't lose as much. This Ron is just a teenager, he is what my Ron could have been if he had never met me. Seeing him here, like that, I can't help but ask myself, if it wouldn't have been better if I had died that Halloween night in 81, maybe then everything we went through wouldn't have happened... Oh, we're here."

Seeing Harry go up the stairs to the Headmaster's office Bill asked himself what the hell had happened, who was Harry Potter and if his alternate self was close to him or not.

Sighing he shook his head and followed Harry to the Headmaster's office, if he was lucky he may be able to get the answers to his questions, who knew maybe he would be able to solve the mystery about Harry Potter.

* * *

Harry knocked on Dumbledore's door and waited till he heard a soft "Come in".

Just as he suspected aside from his parents, Sirius, Remus, Frank, Alice, McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape all the main members of the Order were present.

"Ah, Harry. It's good to see that you are better. You woke up earlier than what we thought. Are you certain that you are feeling alright?"

"I'm fine Albus. Bill said you had questions?"

Harry was in no mood for games and he wanted to get this over with. He was tiered and wanted to be alone in his room. Besides he had to go see his familiars, he was sure that they weren't happy with him.

"Of course, of course. Please take a seat. I'm just going to call the other members that are in class, I imagine that they would also like to hear what you have to say."

Pointing at a place next to Bill he conjured a chair and sat down, not seeing the looks of the Order members at his casual display of wandless and wordless magic, seeing it in a memory was one thing, seeing it in person was another.

After a few minutes the professors started to appear. Lily and James crushed him in a hug, quickly followed by Sirius and Remus. Only after Dumbledore called them to attention did they let go of Harry and sat beside him.

"Thank you for coming. Now that young Harry woke up we can hear what happened."

And that lead to all the members focusing their attention on Harry. He sighed, he hated this games, they knew what had happened, he would prefer if they would come straight out and say what they wanted. But no, they always had to have this little games.

"What do you want me to tell you? You already saw the memories of the other three. You know what happened, so why don't we go straight to the point and you tell me what you want to know."

A few appeared to be surprised, Harry even heard one or two mutter about disrespect, though Moody just looked at him.

"When you attacked the four guards, one of them went against the wall, you didn't point at him, there was no spell, you just looked at him. What was that?" he asked, not taking his eyes from Harry.

Harry almost smiled, you could always count on Moody to gather the needed and most pertinent information.

"It's magic, as simple as that. I just _willed_ it. I'm not that good at it, it takes decades to just get a feather to float and most can't even do that."

Dumbledore and Moody were looking at him incredulous, the others just looked confused while only Flitwick and McGonagall seemed to know what he was talking about.

"That's impossible. You are talking about Will magic, nobody can do it. There are no records of it for hundreds of years, there aren't even books to say how it's possible to do. The only reason some people know it existed is because it is mentioned in some old tomes. It's a Lost Art."

"Moody I already told you what it was. In my world it was a Lost Art, till we found it. As I said, I'm not that good at it. Out of all of us, I believe Hermione was the best at it. I think it was because she had the most focus."

The looks of astonishment on their faces increased, Harry suspected that it may be because they found out that more than one person was able to do it. A supposed Lost Art being done by teenagers would leave anyone in a bit of a stupor.

"But did you have to do what you did?" Frank asked frowning, he was one of those that didn't think much of the Lost Art. He, as well as a few others, didn't know anything about Will magic, and believed that something that took decades to learn and to make a feather float was of little importance, Harry was seventeen, obviously he hadn't had decades so it was practically a given that he hadn't learned all that much. He considered other things far more important, the way Harry had neutralized the guards being one of them.

"What would you have liked me to do? Used a cheering charm or something like that? The objective was getting out of there alive and preferably without injuries. And if your sons had been trained they would have made my life easier. Really I know that the Ministry hasn't declared state of War, but they know that there is a Dark Lord out there, with followers, they should always have their wands, even in Hogwarts, where it is supposedly safe. Voldemort has been around for about thirty years, the least you could have done is train your children, even if it hasn't been declared, do you really believe it will not amount to it? The older ones should have been trained."

"They are only children..."

"Mrs. Weasley, you said exactly the same thing in my world when the war really started a couple years back. And I am gonna tell you the same thing my Ron told her: When they are torturing us to death they don't worry about our age. I thought that all these years of attacks would have at least taught you that."

Harry sighed, he didn't understand these people. Thirty years, thirty years dealing with the threat of Voldemort and this was the best they could do? They hadn't increased the level of the Defense class, no duel club, no nothing. It almost looked like they wanted to lose. Sure they were more careful, they had more safety measures in place, but that was about it. What good did the safety measures do if the students couldn't fight? Hell, he wasn't saying that they should teach first years how to use the killing curse, but to teach the older ones how to duel, or some stronger shields and magic wasn't much to ask for, was it? They weren't at war, but with Voldemort it would become one unless he suddenly had a change of heart. They could have prepared themselves better. They wanted so much for the students to feel like everything was normal that they weren't being logical about it, they were actually endangering them.

"Harry, we just think that there was no need for such violence. You could have used stunners. That last curse was particularly violent, I'm almost certain that it was dark magic."

"Albus it was that attitude that lead to the extermination of the Order of the Phoenix. Your reluctance in killing you opponents, in using violence, lead to the dead of hundreds, many of them students of yours, entire families. All of that because they refused to use deadly means because you didn't approve, because you said that would make them the same as the Death Eaters and they followed you blindly, you had after all defeated Grindelwald, you were the leader of the Light, so you must be right.

And the aurors were no better, if they used more than stunners they would get in trouble with the Ministry, they didn't approve of killing the Death Eaters, they believed that sending them to Azkaban was enough. They were proven wrong rather quickly too, all Death Eaters captured and send there were out in the streets the following week. By the time the Ministry started to authorize lethal force it was already to late.

The biggest lesson me and mine learned was when we were fifteen, it was a lesson that changed our entire lives. Do you know what it was? When they go down, make sure they stay down. We saw too many of ours hurt because seconds after we had stunned a Death Eater some other Death Eater had cast the counter-curse.

And about the curse being dark magic, what's the problem with that? I don't recall ever saying that I was a Light wizard."

As soon as Harry said that more than half of those present took their wands and pointed them at Harry, the only exceptions were the Potters, Remus, Sirius, Albus and surprising Harry, Snape and Bill.

Contrary to what they believed Harry didn't do anything, he just sighed and shook his head. ' _How is it that this reaction doesn't surprise me? Ah, yes I remember, some things don't change. Now would be a really good time to have my wands..._ '

When Harry finished that thought there were two small burst of flames, one on each side of him, one red and gold, the other green and black and they could hear the song of a phoenix. When the flame disappeared Fawkes and Licentia were in their place. Surprising those in the office, including Dumbledore, Fawkes landed on Harry's right shoulder, while Licentia landed on his left one. That's when he noticed that each bird had a wand in their claws.

"Oh, my wands. I should have known that the both of you had them."

Fawkes let out a chirp that settled the hearts of those present and Harry smiled.

"I'm sorry Fawkes, I know that I should have come see you, but the memories were still to fresh."

Fawkes bowed his head and a song that made them feel sad, alone and so incredibly lost was heard in the office, and they were all able to see the overwhelming sadness that appeared for a moment in Harry's eyes. It was quickly masked and a sad smile appeared on his face. Fawkes stretched out it's leg, giving him his phoenix feather wand, as soon as Harry touched it they felt the temperature in the room rise sightly and a soft golden light surrounded Harry. This time Harry's smile lit up his face.

Licentia did the same thing, though this time the temperature dropped and a soft green light surrounded Harry.

"Thank you. They are always with me, I almost feel naked without them."

"This is all very interesting, though I think we are forgetting that the boy practically admitted that he is a Dark wizard."

"Frank..."

"No Albus. Frank's right, we can't have Dark wizards amongst us, we can't risk it." Moody growled.

"Honestly, this is completely ridiculous. What are you afraid of?" Harry asked, looking exasperated and frustrated.

"Harry, my boy, dark magic is a branch of magic that is quite dangerous and..."

Harry's laughter interrupted what else Albus could have said. The others just looked on while Harry tried to get his laughter under control, he was laughing so hard that he even had tears in his eyes.

"Ah Albus, you always said the funniest things."

"I don't see what's so funny boy." Moody almost snarled, well Harry wasn't really surprised, he was as paranoid in this world as he had been in his old one, the only difference was that in his old world Moody actually liked him, here he appeared to barely tolerate him.

"Well first I want to ask you to stop talking to me as if I was somehow mentally challenged or as if I'm a small child and second, you go with the Dark arts are dangerous? You found nothing else? How is that not funny? It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," Harry told them and a second later his expression changed, it was a mask with no emotion whatsoever and his eyes were cold and had a little shine to them, showing his power, his magic. Everything, from the way he was sitting, to the way he looked at them screamed 'danger', his voice didn't help either. He usually had a soft, warm voice though now it was smooth and cold making Tonks, Alice and Molly shiver, Snape tried to control his reaction, though that tone reminded him far too much of the Dark Lord, everyone else could clearly see what Snape meant that time at the meeting, Harry didn't look like a harmless teenager anymore, "I can kill everyone in this room with a simple, Light magic, spell, that is taught to fourth year students."

"And what spell is that boy?" Moody asked in a tone a little more wary.

"' _Accio_ ', the summoning charm. I can use the charm to summon your hearts for example. Granted not every fourth year student or seventh year for that matter has the control to be able to summon a specific part of the human body, but it is possible, I have seen it done. Even if they aren't strong enough to rip the heart out of your chest, it will still move the heart and it is likely that you would die from it. It can also be used in torture, did you know? It could be used to summon someone's fingernails, one by one or if the person is feeling particularly imaginative they could use ti to summon an eye or a bone, believe me, when the bone comes tearing trough flesh and skin it is rather bloody, though I'm told that it is a really good motivator to make other prisoners talk."

By that time they were all looking at him with wide eyes and a few were quite pale, Harry wanted to laugh. If they found that shocking he wondered what they would have thought of the more gruesome things they had done to survive that hell that was the Second War.

"My dear boy, surely you wouldn't..."

" _Surely I wouldn't_ what? You think that Light magic isn't dangerous? Do you think that Light magic is harmless? Don't fool yourselves, Light magic is as deathly as Dark magic, it all depends on the intentions with which it is used. It was something we learned when we were fifteen."

"You are talking in the plural, you can't be suggesting that there were more students like you? My son would never use dark magic." Frank exclaimed looking a bit out of it.

"Mr. Longbottom, Nev was a Master of the Dark Arts. He even created a few rituals. He tried necromancy too, but he only learned the basics, to continue he had to be a born Necromancer and he wasn't one. My brother was nothing like the boy that exists here. I would die for Nev, but above all I would kill for him, just as he would have done for me."

"Kill..."

"Albus! Stop! What don't you understand about the concept of war? We did everything we could, used everything we had at our disposal to stay alive."

"Death is just the next great adventure."

"Of course, how stupid of me to want to live till my twenties at least. I can't believe that I thought that the great Albus Dumbledore could be different in this world. It's going to be your weakness that will lead Tom to victory. And you know what? Right now I think that is what you deserve."

Not waiting for them to say anything else Harry left the office Licentia flying behind him, leaving a room full of people in several states of shock.

* * *

Several minutes after Harry left, they were all still in the same place, no one had said a word. They were all lost in their own thoughts, trying to understand what Harry had told them. Most were trying to imagine a world where children were forced to deal with the things that Harry had told them.

Severus on the other hand was asking himself how it was possible for things to be that different. He had been Longbottom's professor for years, the boy was weak, without any potential, it was impossible to see that boy as a Dark Arts Master.

Frank and Alice Longbottom were having similar thoughts, neither of them wanted to imagine their son like that, it went against everything they believed in, against everything they fought for. They knew that it was the truth, they just refused to believe it.

Albus was also shaken by what he had heard. Dark Arts! Necromancy! Albus couldn't, no, _didn't want to_ believe that such young students studyed such things. The thought of killing someone was unthinkable for him, however that young man talked about taking a live with such ease. If someone asked him at that moment who he thought was more dangerous, if Tom Marvolo Riddle or Harry James Potter, he wouldn't know which to pick, though if it came down to it he thought that maybe he would choose Harry. From Tom he knew what to expect, Harry was an unknown element.

Bill was sitting in his chair deep in thought, there could have been an explosion right next to him and he wouldn't have noticed. Just as he wanted he had learned more about Harry, but now he thought that maybe it would have been better if he hadn't known. A Dark wizard? Dark magic? Since he was a child that he had been told that dark magic was evil, that wizards that practiced dark magic were evil and that he should always stay away from such people. He wasn't a child anymore, but from what he had seen from the Death Eaters he had to agree. Dark wizards were evil, with the things they did, it looked as if they had no feelings. As soon as that thought crossed his mind he remembered impossibly green eyes shinning with tears, filled with overwhelming sadness. Bill sighed, it was impossible for him to think of those eyes and associate them in any way with evil.

The Potters, Remus and Sirius were also deep in thought. They were angry. They weren't angry with Harry, no, nothing like that. Not that they were expecting their son to be a Dark wizard, Harry was nothing like they had thought their son would be, but that didn't make him any less their son and they were proud of the man he had become. It broke their hearts thinking about what he had to go through to become the man they knew, but they were still proud of him. What made the four friends angry was the way they were treating Harry. They could understand not trusting Dark wizards that were Death Eaters, hell that was more than understandable, it was actually advised. But Harry wasn't a Death Eater and that made all the difference.

"I believe it would be best that we keep young Harry under surveillance," Dumbledore ended up breaking the silence after several minutes, "Keep him in his quarters and stop him from leaving the castle."

"Stop him from leaving the castle?" Frank shouted getting up, "We should send him to Azkaban!"

With no warning Lily got up and slapped Frank with all her strength making almost every one of them stare dumbfounded.

"Azkaban? He saved your son's life and you want to send him to Azkaban? You petty, ungrateful bastard! Since he arrived here he only helped us and you treat him as if he were worse than Voldemort! Why? Because he is more powerful than you? Because he knows dark magic? Because he has a snake as a familiar? Spare me. You are as petty and prejudiced as the Death Eaters. You disgust me."

And followed by James, Sirius and Remus, left the office.

Albus sighed, the meeting hadn't gone at all as he was expecting. He was certain that at least those four Order members would oppose any decisions he made about young Harry. Deep down he knew Lily was right. But the boy reminded him so much of a young Tom Riddle. If Riddle was the same age as Harry they could almost be mirror images of each other. That thought made the Headmaster feel a shiver go down his spine. No matter how right Lily was, it was a risk that he just couldn't take.

* * *

A few days after the meeting with the Order Harry was tired of the whole situation. It was extremely irritating to not be able to leave his quarters without having an Order member following him. Of course they tried to be inconspicuous about it, pretending that they weren't following him but Harry knew them well, besides he was far better trained than any of them could imagine, it was the price to pay for living in times of war.

His parents and godfathers tried to help anyway they could, every time they weren't in class they were with him. His father sometimes asked him to show him some memories, the first time he was on a broom, his first match, things like that, that showed him a little bit more about his son.

Harry loved spending time with them, but he missed his friends, his family and sometimes at night when he was alone in his bed he didn't have the strength to stop the tears when he remembered what he had lost. On those nights the tears fell freely while he remembered arms that held him in the dark, words of comfort whispered in his ears and nights filled with passion that gave him hope. He had lost all of it and more, so the tears didn't stop at night and the following morning he would get up and pretend that everything was fine.

At dawn of the first Saturday of February the alarms in Dumbledore's office went of and in a few seconds Albus was there, looking completely awake, if a bit ruffled, in his pajamas. He took a second or two to understand what he was seeing but when he did he blanched. Hogsmead was under attack.

In a few minutes he had gathered all the Order members in the castle and had sent alerts to all the others. Lily was the one who voiced what some of them were thinking.

"What about Harry? He would be able to help."

"I don't want the kid out there! He could turn against us!" exclaimed Frank, James and Sirius had to be restrained so that they didn't attack him.

"I think it's best if we keep Harry in his room. I'm going to use Hogwarts' wards to make it impossible for him to leave while we are away. It's the safest option."

It was obvious that not everyone agreed with that, but they had no time for discussing it and not losing anymore time they took their portkeys to Hogsmead.

As soon as they arrived they were faced with a battlefield, there were bodies everywhere on the ground, injured people screaming for help, houses burning, curses flying around, it was pure chaos. Everyone of them had helped in raids, had fought Death Eaters, but they had never seen anything on the scale that they were seeing then. It was overwhelming. Though they had no time to asses the situation better. There where Death Eaters everywhere, curses flying left, right and center, people hurt and panicking. Any and all training they had went through the window and they acted on pure instinct. If they ran into someone hurt they would give them a portkey that would lead them to Hogwarts' infirmary, when they were up against a Death Eater they would stun him and moved to the next one, but no matter how many Death Eaters they brought down there was a new one to take his place. No matter how hard they tried they couldn't overcome the Death Eaters and while they fought Hogsmead continued to burn around them and the uninjured witches and wizards ran to Hogwarts to find refuge inside it's walls.

After what seemed like an eternity the Death Eaters retreated, death and devastation as the only sign of them ever being there.

When Albus returned to Hogwarts he felt defeated. Hogsmead had been reduced to ashes, countless deaths and more than half of his Order injured, some of them were in a rather bad shape. It was with a heavy heart that he went to his office, where several Order members were waiting for him, to give him a more detailed report about the damages, injuries and deaths.

Opening the door he saw Lily and James, both with several scratches and a few cuts, Sirius with his arm in a sling, obviously broken, Remus had a cut on his lip and brow, he seemed to be one of the least injured.

Frank had a bloodied leg, it looked like he had been hit by some kind of cutting curse and some curse that skinned the place it hit, though fortunately it didn't spread and the wound was only a couple of inches, his wife, Alice, was still unconscious.

Alastor had lost his right ear and had a few cuts up his arm, aside from that he appeared to have no other injuries.

Arthur had a long cut on his face, it went from his left brow to his chin in an almost perfectly straight line, Bill had a cut in his chest and arm. The other members were still being treated or hadn't recovered enough to be there.

According to the reports more than half of the people in Hogsmead were injured and almost a fourth lost their lives. They had lost fifteen aurors and seven Order members and they only had been able to apprehend three Death Eaters, even the ones that had been stunned had been portkeyed away, the only reason they had the three they did was because their portkeys had been damaged. It had been a devastating loss for the Light. They were trying to decide what to do with the surviving members of Hogsmead when the door to Albus' office burst into flames, they consumed the door in a matter of seconds and Harry walked through it.

They could see the fire shinning in his eyes and nobody dared to say a word.

Harry ignored them all and walked to his family. Seeing that they only had minor injuries he took out his phoenix wand and started to heal them, he had after all learned rather advanced healing magic, though he wouldn't claim to be that good at it. When he considered his job done he turned around and faced Albus, he spoke in a voice so cold, so filled with power that it left most of them petrified.

"It doesn't matter which world, it appears you are destined to always make the same mistakes. Mistakes that cost me my family. But this time Dumbledore I'm not a scared little child and next time you put my family in unnecessary risk I will show you why one of my names is Hunter."

"Harry they are a part of the Order..."

"And because they are a part of your Order, does it mean that they should go on suicide missions Albus?"

"It wasn't a suicide..."

"How many did we lose Albus? How many aurors and Order members?"

"Twenty-two."

"And how many Death Eaters?"

"We apprehended three."

"And how many did you kill?"

"We didn't kill anyone as far as we know Harry, we are not killers."

"No, no you aren't killers. And soldiers? Are you soldiers? Because to me it doesn't look like you are soldiers either, as such your place isn't on a battlefield, if you go even so then it is a suicide mission. Do you know why you lost so many? Because you use ' _stupefys_ ' and they use ' _avada kedavras_ '. The battle may be in your favor numbers wise, but your numbers keep decreasing and theirs doesn't change and in that situation the winner is rather obvious. And then, in your arrogance and prejudice you excluded the only person that has some kind of experiencing in that sort of situation. You are a disappointment. You should thank Merlin for not having lost more people."

Not saying anything else Harry turned his back on them and left, leaving most regretting the decision of not including him and the rest feeling completely defeated. Deep down they knew the boy was right, they were luck in being alive.


	9. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

**Chapter 9 – Memories**

The week after the attack on Hogsmead went by rather slowly. The survivors from the attack stayed at Hogwarts and tried to live as normally as they could, but the deaths of their loved ones left the inhabitants of the castle in an almost constant depressed state. Even the students from all the houses were more subdued, for most of them it was the first time that an attack hit so close to home. Though they all knew that there were attacks, what mattered to them if some muggle village in the other side of the country was attacked. There were the occasional raids in wizarding areas, but the number of victims were rather low, and even those attacks were usually far away from the school and besides they were students, they weren't meant to think about Dark Lords and his followers, weren't meant to worry about something like attacks, the professors had told them that they had the most powerful wards available in Hogwarts, that they were safe. And they believed them. Even when Death Eaters were spotted near Hogsmead they usually would never go near Hogwarts and it only ever happened after dark, which was a time that all students had to be at Hogwarts already.

But this attack had been different. Hogsmead, a village that they all knew, only a few minutes away from their school, was burned to the ground, people they knew dead.

For the first time they couldn't think that they were only students, for the first time they thought; what it was my dad? What if it had been my mom? What if it had been my sister or brother? What if it had been me? For the first time they lost some of the innocence that all children should have and that most of the adults in their lives were trying to keep them from losing.

Harry felt no sympathy for them, it was a lesson that they should have learned a long time ago, specially the older ones, besides, it was better that they learned it this way than in the middle of a battle for their lives. It wouldn't have been the first time that he had seen it happen.

Harry himself was a bit more subdued, the battle was nothing new to him, and though he hadn't participated it had been impossible not to hear the screams from Hogsmead and it had been enough to reopen some wounds, however he didn't let it bring him down, he knew that the attack was only the beginning. Though in this world there wasn't much that he could do aside from sitting in the sidelines watching while the leader of the Light gave Tom the victory.

After the battle his parents and godparents had lost a bit of the joy they always had when they talked to him, their talks had lost that light feeling they had. His father spent the nights reading the books he had given him and day after day he saw his expressions become more somber. Harry suspected that only now was his father realizing that all the battle plans and strategies were from personal experience. James didn't ask though and Harry didn't offer any explanations, deep down he feared his parents reactions if they knew everything he had done to survive, to win. He wasn't ashamed of what he had done, it was war and they couldn't afford to lose, he just didn't want to lose his family so soon after having found them.

In the week that went by Bill was a constant visitor. Sometimes he just sat beside him for hours at a time without speaking, he only sat there looking at him while Harry read. Harry was sure that if it had been anyone but Bill he would have been incredibly uncomfortable, but he knew Bill, so he knew that sometimes Bill just needed to organize his thoughts and for that he like company, even if the company didn't say anything. Other times Bill talked about his life, about dreams he had, about regrets and about little things of no importance but that he found funny. Occasionally he asked things about the ' _other Bill_ ' or to just tell him things that he remembered about him. Though not once did Bill ask him to tell him things about himself, Harry was sure that the Order wanted information about him and he couldn't understand why Bill, one of the only Order members Harry talked to, wasn't even trying to get information from him. Harry didn't understand why but he had never understood Bill, not even the one from his world.

And so the week went by and life at Hogwarts slowly got back to normal with most thinking that the worst was over, considering that there hadn't been even one attack on muggles throughout the week, most had expected there to be daily raids after the Hogsmead attack but when nothing happened, not even Death Eater sightings they assumed that the worst was over. However they were wrong, it was only the calm before the storm.

It was Sunday at lunch time, exactly one week after the Hogsmead battle, that a group of aurors lead by Kingsley and Tonks entered the Great Hall accompanied by several Ministry members and Department heads, making everyone present look at them. Considering how they looked and their expressions it was obvious that they weren't bringing good news and a few students paled when they saw that more than one of them had blood on their robes, the adults present looked particularly grave. Harry suspected what had happened and as soon as Kingsley spoke he had his suspicion confirmed.

"The Ministry has fallen. You-Know-Who killed the Minister. As far as I know we are the only survivors that didn't join You-Know-Who."

Slowly the students voices started to rise, most of them with a hint of panic. Even the adults present appeared to be in shook. To Harry it looked like that none of them had ever thought that something like this might actually happen.

After what seemed like several minutes Dumbledore recuperated the control of the situation and he asked the Order members and what was left of the Ministry members to follow him.

Harry followed them he was quite interested in knowing what they would do next, besides he had to see what he had to do to keep his family safe.

Most of the aurors went to the hospital wing, leaving only Kingsley and Tonks present. Madam Bones and a wizard that Harry didn't know were the only members from the Ministry that weren't a part of the Order that joined them, the others ask Dumbledore if they could bring their families to Hogwarts and as soon as Dumbledore agreed they rushed to contact their families.

And so nineteen wizards and witches, plus Harry, were in Dumbledore's office waiting for Kingsley to tell them what had happened.

When all was said Harry didn't think that it was something that out of the ordinary, after all something very similar to it had happened in his world, though the others looked horrified when Kingsley with the help of Tonks, Madam Bones and Croaker, who supposedly was the Head of the Unspeakables, had told them what happened. Harry thought that the number of survivors was a good sign, considering that in his world they had killed everyone.

When the shook passed Dumbledore and his Order started making plans and trying to decide how they would handle the future battles, Croaker was the only one who appeared to be against the decisions that were being made but only occasionally did he give his opinion and every so often when he saw Harry shaking his head he would look inquiringly at him, which Harry did his best to ignore and continued to shake his head.

It was painfully obvious that none of them had ever fought in battles of big dimensions, the more experienced fighters being the ones that had participated in the battle of Hogsmead and for Harry that wasn't that big of a battle.

From what Harry was seeing they weren't the least bit prepared for what was coming. He didn't have any doubt that they would be annihilated in the first few major battles, they weren't even making plans for the eventuality of Tom attacking Hogwarts which was, in Harry's opinion, completely ridiculous. He was so distracted analyzing all the ways they could be wiped out that he didn't even notice when he spoke aloud.

"They won't even survive the first week."

Immediately everyone stopped talking and looked at him with wide eyes, noticing that all the attention was on him and fearing he had missed a question while he was in his own mind he ask, rather rudely, though that didn't worry him all that much, most of the Order already despised him as it was, "What?"

"Why did you say that?" Albus inquired without the usual twinkle in his eyes.

"Why did I say what?" Harry asked confused, he hoped they weren't going crazy at a time like this it would be hard enough to win with them perfectly sane, or as sane as a wizard can be.

"That we wouldn't survive the first week."

"Ah," he must have been really distracted if he hadn't noticed that, Ron would have never let him forget it, "I hadn't realized it said that out loud, sorry about that."

After several moments of silence where Harry didn't elaborate Frank exploded.

"Answer when people ask you questions boy!"

Harry sighed and took a deep breath, trying to keep calm and the control over his magic, though it was quite hard, these people were testing his patience. However it simply wouldn't do to curse them just because he felt like it. He sniggered inside his mind, sometimes he had the feeling that his Voldemort had influenced him far to much, well, there was nothing he could do, by the end of it they were all far from what could have been considered perfectly sane, at least his Hunters were. The rest of the population were... He didn't know what they were to be honest, grief-stricken, depressed, tiered, broken, vengeful, there were so many words that could have applied to the rest of the wizarding world, but no matter how many words could describe them, he was proud that hopeless hadn't been one of them.

"I already told you, my name is Harry, Potter, Wings or Hunter. I hope you remember it, I truly hate repeating myself. And about what I said, with the shitty plans that you are coming up if you survive the first confrontation would be a miracle."

"Harry, my boy, I guaranty that we are taking all possible precautions."

"Oh, for the love of Merlin, don't make me laugh Albus. All possible precautions? And what will you do when Voldemort attacks Hogwarts Albus? How will you survive in a castle under siege?"

"There is no evidence saying that he will attack Hogwarts..."

"Just as there was no evidence that he would attack Hogsmead. Just as there was no evidence whatsoever that he would take the Ministry. I think it's better if you wake up and face reality, otherwise I have no doubt that Tom will annihilate you with little effort on his part."

When Harry didn't say anything more Frank was, again, the one that broke the silence. He felt humiliated that a boy, no older than his son would talk to them like that, them 'The Order of the Phoenix', the only ones that fought against the Dark Lord.

"Who do you think you are boy? You are nothing but a child with delusions of greatness. I bet that they sent you away from your world because you are worthless. Or maybe you're a coward that fled when things got too bad and now you want to see if you can gain some fame at the cost of other people's work. You are nothing but a child with a far too big ego that knows nothing of the real world!"

Harry was pale when Frank finished, he was shaking and his eyes were fixed on the ground. The more perceptive amongst them understood immediately that Frank had gone too far, the ones that could feel magic shivered, they were used to Albus' magic and the one they were now feeling was far darker than the Headmaster's, it made them feel like running for the hills, and for Severus it was like being in front of the Dark Lord again making him go for his wand almost on auto-pilot, he had never thought that he would ever feel magic like the one his former master had and for the first time in a long time he felt sorry for someone, he didn't want to be in Frank's shoes.

Frank though, couldn't feel magic and he wasn't one of the more perceptive ones, so he just had a smug, satisfied expression on his face, however that changed rather quickly when Harry slowly got up from his seat and looked him in the eyes. The amount of emotion in his eyes was undeniable, but there was a cold look in them that promised pain the likes of which he had never felt, his voice was no better, it was cold, with no emotion and the power it had made their blood freeze.

"A child? Thanks to Voldemort and Dumbledore I never had the opportunity to be a child. At first, before I was even born, I was hope. After that I was a slave. Then a celebrity. Followed by being a source of entertainment. Then I was a symbol and a martyr. Then the only choice I had was to be a solider or a pawn, I chose soldier. I was never a child. I know what I am but you don't, so I would be careful with what you say. If it had been any other situation or if you had been anyone else, you would have been dead.

Licentia."

In an instant the hybrid appeared in a ball of black fire.

"Licentia, can you bring me my pensive please?"

As fast as she had appeared she disappeared and a few seconds later Licentia returned with a pensive in her claws, she put the pensive in front of Harry on the table and landed on Harry's shoulder.

Not paying any attention to the people around him, Harry started to put memories in the pensive. After almost an hour he had finished and he looked at the people that surrounded him, though his eyes lingered on Frank.

"I, Harry James Potter, swear on my magic and life that all the memories inside the pensive a real and did in fact happen. So mote it be."

They all saw a bright golden light envelope Harry and then dissipate.

"As you can see, I'm still alive. These are the memories of my life till I came here. The memories aren't all mine, but I have them because it was a form of protection that we found and a way to say goodbye. You may all go see them, but I must warn you that people you know will be dead or will die, I don't advise you to see them if you think you can't handle it. After you see that Frank, tell me I'm worthless, a cowered and that I know nothing of the real world.

The memories are in chronological order, have fun.

Licentia, let's go."

And in the blink of an eye Harry was gone.

For several minutes nobody said anything, they only looked at the pensive.

"Should we go?" James asked breaking the trance the others were in.

Almost instantly they got up and surrounded the pensive. Most were thinking that they would finally solve the mystery that was Harry Potter, others asking themselves if the memories were as bad as he had said and the only none Order members present were wondering if maybe the young man would be able to help them with the Dark Lord.

* * *

The Potters, Sirius and Remus already knew the first few memories, but that didn't make it any easier for them to see it again. Though they were shaken they didn't miss the others reaction to what they were seeing.

When first year started Lily and Remus had to stop James and Sirius from punching Frank when he yelled "I knew it!", when they found out that Harry was supposed to be a Slytherin. Though when they saw an eleven year old Harry go against Voldemort even Frank paled. Albus couldn't believe that a child so young would have the courage to stand up to a Dark Lord.

However before they had the time to really process what they had seen they were already in second year and students were being attacked. When they found out that Harry was a parselmouth they paled and Albus was stunned. Severus on the other hand started to shake, he tried to control himself better, but it was difficult, he couldn't believe just how much the boy was like the Dark Lord, even when he was so young. Though by the end of the year, Harry's courage and selflessness surprised them again. No one there believed that they would have been able to face a basilisk, to save a girl they didn't even know, specially when they were only twelve.

And again they were in a new year and just like before they saw the three friends do things that most adults wouldn't have been able to do and get out of it victorious.

When Harry's name came out of the goblet of fire in fourth year, they were all wondering if Harry ever had a normal year, this time even James, Lily, Remus and Sirius were paying particular attention to the memories, they hadn't seen these ones. All of them were impressed that he was able to break the Imperius when he was only fourteen, but none of them could understand why they would use the curse on students so young, they only used it on seventh years and even at that age many parents were against it. Then came the graveyard and Lily couldn't hold her tears. Harry's screams made most of them look away, it was to much for them to see a child being tortured knowing they couldn't do anything to help. However when Harry got up and fought Voldemort even after the torture the respect that many had for the boy grew, even Alastor was impressed, what wouldn't he give for even half of the aurors to have that kind of strength, and there was a teen doing what very few had the courage to even try.

And it was with tears in their eyes that they saw the beginning of his fifth year. They couldn't help but be impressed with the Defense group that Harry had created. Even Moody wasn't able to find fault with it. It was hell to see Harry's dream about Sirius being tortured, though Harry's, Ron and Ginny's, and Neville's parents were rather proud of their children for going to help a friend, even if the simple thought of them anywhere near Death Eaters terrified them. They saw them raid the Ministry and could help but be impressed with the teens when they fought the Death Eaters. When Sirius went through the Veil Harry's despair was palpable and they could all see the hate in Harry's eyes, the power that was there and when he cast the Cruciatus on Bellatrix they couldn't blame him. Though knowing that he was driven to that point broke the Potter's, Sirius and Remus' heart. And if that hadn't been enough he came face to face with the Dark Lord again. When it appeared to have ended they saw Harry being confronted with a prophecy that had defined his life.

And that's how they saw a fifteen year old boy go back to a house where he was hated and despised, a boy that appeared broken and seemed to have lost the will to live.


	10. Training, training and a bit more training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> A.N.: Considering that a few readers didn't understand it, in this chapter they are still inside the pensive. They are still looking at the memories that Harry gave them.

**Chapter 10 – Training, training and a bit more training**

Harry was in his room in Privet Drive, another day was beginning and three new letters had arrived, one from Ron, one from Hermione and another from Neville. Since he had come back to Privet Drive he had received a letter from them each morning. Sometimes they didn't even ask if everything was alright, they would just talk about things of no importance, things of every day life. Harry knew that they were doing it for him, so that he would not lose himself in his grief and he was profoundly grateful to them. If it hadn't been for them he was sure that the guilt he felt for Sirius' death would have already drowned him. However his friends hadn't given up on him, even when he didn't write back they continued to send him letters.

Tock, tock, tock.

Startled Harry looked around and saw a new owl by his window. Slowly he opened it and let the bird in. The owl dropped the letter on his bed and flew out the window again, not even waiting for him to give it a snack. Harry took the letter and only looked at the sender. To his surprise he found a Gringotts coat of arms on the letter, with his curiosity taking the better of him he opened it.

' _Lord Potter,_

_Just as was asked from the goblins of Gringotts by the late Lord Black, we would have to notify you, Lord Potter, of the private reading of his Will two weeks before your birthday if you had not yet reached your majority._

_We inform you, Lord Potter, that the reading of the Will will take place tomorrow at 10am at Gringotts, you may come alone or bring someone with you._

_We, at Gringotts, are sorry for your loss._

_Sincerely,_

_Ragnok_

_General Director, Department of Inheritances_

_Gringotts_ '

For almost five minutes Harry did nothing else than look at the letter. Having it in written brought tears to his eyes, Sirius was truly gone. Taking a deep breath he tried to get himself under control. He had much to do and couldn't continue to wallow in misery like the past few days.

He had to find a way to go to Gringotts the next day, he didn't even think of asking the Order, he was sure that they wouldn't allow him to go. Though he didn't want to go alone either. He needed his friends, his family. He just needed a way to contact them quickly and without anyone knowing. He could only think about one way to do it, but he wasn't even sure it would work.

"Dobby." Harry called hoping that the little elf would answer. A few moments went by and Harry was beginning to think that it wouldn't work when he heard a pop and there in front of him was the house-elf.

"Harry Potter sir called Dobby. How can Dobby help great Harry Potter sir?"

"Hello Dobby, thank you for coming. I need your help, but first I want to ask you some questions, is that alright?"

"Yes Harry Potter sir."

"That's great, thanks. Please sit so that we can talk."

"Harry Potter sir is such a great wizard, he says to lowly house-elf to sit, Harry Potter sir is really a great wizard."

"Thank you Dobby, but you are my friend, there is nothing wrong with you sitting when you are with me. What I wanted to ask you Dobby was if I asked you to do something, can someone make you tell them? Or do you have to tell someone?"

"If Dobby bonds to Master Harry Potter sir, than no one would be able to force Dobby to tell Master's secrets. Dobby would like very much to be house-elf to the great Harry Potter sir."

"I can't ask that of you Dobby, I know that you always wanted to be a free-elf and now you are."

"Dobby likes being free. But Dobby wants most of all to be house-elf to the great Harry Potter sir."

"Are you sure Dobby?"

"Dobby is sure Master Harry Potter sir."

"Alright, though I don't know what to do Dobby."

"Dobby be doing it, Harry Potter sir just needs to put his right hand on Dobby's chest."

Harry did as he was told and after a few moments he felt his hand warm a bit and a soft blue light enveloped his hand and Dobby, the glow dissolved half a minute later.

"It's done Master Harry."

"You don't have to call me Master Dobby, just Harry will do. What I need to know is if you can take someone with you when you use your form of transportation."

"Yes, Dobby can, but wizards never ask."

"So, if I ask you to take me to Gringotts tomorrow, there will be no trouble?"

"No, Master Harry."

"Alright. And can you deliver a letter to some friends of mine and wait for their answer or bring them here if they want to?"

"Dobby can be doing that."

"OK, that's perfect, wait just a minute while I write the letter."

' _Dear Ron, Neville and Hermione,_

_You can't imagine how much you helped me this summer. I think that without you I would have drowned in my guilt, and it pains me to ask even more of you but I have no one else to turn to._

_Today I received a letter from Gringotts, they asked me to go to Sirius' Will reading tomorrow, I can't go alone._

_Can you go with me? If you can't, I understand._

_I asked Dobby to wait for your answer, or to bring you here so that we can talk, spend some time together._

_Thank you for everything guys._

_Harry_ '

"Alright Dobby, take it to Ron first, then to Neville and then to Hermione. I would prefer it if no one was around when you give them the letter, though if there is no other way, then you can give it to them in front of someone."

As soon as Harry gave him the letter the little elf disappeared. After a little more than five minutes Harry heard a low 'pop' and in the middle of his room was one of his best friends, Ronald Weasley.

"Harry." Ron almost whispered, though a small smile was on his face, and went to give him a hug.

"Ron, thanks for coming."

"You don't have to thank me, you prat. I love my family, but I missed you. And I think we need to talk. I had a lot of time to think about many things, I need to get a few things of my chest, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Let's just wait from Neville and Hermione's answers, alright?"

"Sure, I think they should hear what I want to say too."

So both boys sat down o Harry's bed, waiting for their friends. They didn't talk much, they felt comfortable with the peace and quite that they had between them. Their friendship had grown, they didn't need idle chitchat to feel comfortable with each other, they felt good the way they were, just enjoying each others company. Almost half an hour later they heard a new 'pop' and Neville was among them. Not saying anything he gave Ron and Harry quick hugs and sat on the floor near the bed with his back against the wall. Just having them there calmed Harry down. Hermione joined them almost fifteen minutes later and as soon as she saw him, she hugged Harry as if he was a life-line, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Thanks for coming..."

"Stop Harry," Neville interrupted him, "You don't have to thank us, you know that. Besides I was going crazy at home. Too much free time, too many things to think about, and those things weren't always good."

"I know what you mean. I think the ' _adults_ ' have no idea what we are dealing with."

"Wait Ron. Dobby." Harry called, waiting for the house-elf to appear.

"Master Harry is needing Dobby?"

"Dobby can you create a ward or something to stop someone from listing in on our conversation and to stop the Dursleys from coming here?"

"Dobby can be doing that."

With a snap of his fingers they felt the magic flow through the room and the little elf disappeared again.

"Now we can talk without worries, you never know who could be listening in."

His friends smiled at him and focused their attention on Ron again.

"Well, as I was saying, they don't understand, they are always saying that it isn't my war, that I'm to young. None of them understand how I feel. Half a dozen Death Eaters almost killed us! And the only thing the ' _adults_ ' tell me is that it's normal to be afraid. None of them understand that isn't what bothers me. It's about me feeling weak!"

"You're right, I never felt that weak. I know that I was never the most powerful wizard but I don't want to feel that way again. Weak, helpless."

"And no matter how much we delayed them, they always came back. They never stayed down, never stayed stunned, and when I showed just a little compassion towards one of them he almost killed me. I don't want to show that kind of weakness again."

"I know what you mean Hermione, but compassion isn't a weakness, we just have to be careful to whom we show compassion to. None of the Death Eaters deserve it, to me your lives are far more important than theirs."

Only a short while back all of them wouldn't have agreed with Harry, but not now, after the battle at the Ministry they had lost the little innocence they had left, and now they knew that they would do whatever it took to make sure that when a Death Eater went down he stayed down.

"When Dumbledore took me to his office... he... he told me the prophecy..."

And in a voice no louder than a whisper Harry told them what had happened in Dumbledore's office, when he finished the others looked completely shocked. Hermione got up and sat on his side hugging him.

"Will Dumbledore at least train you?" Ron asked, trying not to let his anger bled into his voice, though he wasn't very successful, he was extremely disappointed in Dumbledore and it showed in his expression.

Harry just shook his head.

"He said that my biggest power is my capacity to love."

For several seconds no one spoke, after that, his friends suddenly exploded.

"Love? Now I'm sure that the old man is senile." Hermione exclaimed.

"Your biggest power? What is he expecting? That you kiss Voldemort to death?" Neville shouted, Harry had never see the usually calm boy that agitated and he had to admit that hearing Neville say the name Voldemort shocked him greatly, though he couldn't deny that he was proud of his friend for getting over the fear of the name.

"That old man is completely barmy!" snarled Ron.

Seeing his friends scream, getting angry on his behalf and hearing some of the ideas they had about how he could kill Voldemort with the power of love was to much for Harry and he started laughing. He laughed so hard that he had difficulty breathing. His friends stopped shouting and looked at Harry with smiles on their faces, it had been a long time since they had heard him laugh. After several moments Harry managed to control himself and smiled at them.

"Thanks guys, it's been ages since I felt that carefree." he confessed with a smile.

They stayed like that for a while, till Neville nodded and broke the comfortable silence they had.

"So, if the responsible ' _adults_ ' don't train us, we will train ourselves."

"Us?"

"Of course us!" said Neville exasperated, "Do you really think we would let you face this shit alone?"

"Neville's right, mate. We are with you till the end."

"No Ron. What if you get hurt? What if you die? I wouldn't be able to live with that."

"Harry," Hermione started to say calmly while she hugged him, "If we get hurt we will heal each other. And if one of us dies then we will wait for the others on the other side until we meet again. But no matter what we will never abandon you Harry. It's as Ron said: we are together till the end."

Harry wasn't able to speak for several moments, he had no idea what he had done to have such loyal friends.

"I couldn't ask for better people at my side." whispered Harry. His three friends just looked at each other and smiled, they were all thinking the same about Harry. After the silence stretched for a bit Hermione got up to get a quill and parchment.

"We should see what we want to study and which type of training we want. We have already lost a lot of time, the war started last year and it won't wait till we are ready."

"Hermione's right. I think we should continue with defense naturally."

"Transfiguration and charms. Some potions as well."

"I think we also need arithmancy and ancient runes. Healing magic as well, and Occlumency and Legilimency."

"That's a good idea. We should add dueling too. Martial arts and fighting with weapons could be a good thing too."

"Silent casting and wandless magic if we can find some books about it. Animagus training also..."

They were silent for a bit, pondering what else they could add to their list, what else could be useful to them, when, rather suddenly and almost at the same time, they added "Dark arts.".

As soon as they said it, they looked at each other. If they were truthful with themselves they had all been afraid to admit it, they had been afraid that the others would have rejected them, but they trusted each others with their lives, if they couldn't trust the people in that room with their darkest secrets who else would they trust? They were all sure that to survive the war they needed to know what they would be up against.

"I've been thinking about it," Harry vented, "Dark doesn't mean evil, and dark magic is still magic."

"I know that my family would never approve. I don't think that there ever was a Weasley that turned their back to the light, though, technically, I'm not turning my back to the light, I'm just embracing the other side."

"Logically there is no Light without Dark. We could say that it is the other side of the same coin."

"I go see my parents at St. Mungus every year. They don't even know who I am. I don't want to end up in a bed by their side. And Bellatrix... Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire."

"So... the dark arts? We have to be in agreement on this, and you know that Dumbledore and his order won't accept it."

"We know Harry. And I think that when my parents find out they are going to disown me. I won't be a Weasley anymore, I'm almost sure of it, you know they hate dark magic and everything related to it. But that isn't going to make me change my mind, it's what we have to do."

"I... I sent my parents away... I told them everything, I explained what was happening. They thought that I shouldn't get involved, they wanted me to leave Hogwarts and the Wizarding world. They even got rid of some of my books and said that they wouldn't tolerate my involvement with ' _that world_ ' any longer. I... I changed their memories. They don't remember me anymore, they don't remember that they have a daughter, they moved to America two days ago. At least they are safe there. You are the only family I have now..."

When she finished talking she was crying and Harry could do nothing but hold her.

"Oh, Hermione," he whispered, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You already had so much to think about..."

"You can always count on me Hermione, you're my sister. You, just as Neville and Ron, come always first for me. Do you want to stay here with me? I'm sure that Dobby can find something for us and tomorrow after we finish at Gringotts we can decide what we'll do..."

Hermione just hugged him tighter and Harry could feel her relax.

"Harry do you mind if I stay here as well? I know that my grand-mother and the rest of the Longbottoms wouldn't accept my decision."

"Me too, Harry..."

"Of course you can stay, you're my family. You are always welcome. Tomorrow after Gringotts we start our training."

"Speaking about training... We have to get other wands, secondary wands that aren't tracked by the Ministry. You and Neville aren't sixteen yet so you still have the trace, since last week they lowered the age that students are allowed to use magic outside of school, because of the war, they think that if the Death Eaters start to have raids again, specially in muggle areas, then the students need to be able to defend themselves, though that doesn't help the ones that are younger. However to lower the age restriction even more they must declare state of war and they haven't done that yet. But even Ron and I should get other wands, they can track us even if we don't have the underage trace but with wands that aren't registered it's almost impossible. And we need books, lots of them."

"We'll take care of that tomorrow. Not today. Today is the last day that we have to be carefree teenagers, or to pretend to be carefree. Let's have lunch, I'll ask Dobby to make us something and we spend the rest of the day enjoying ourselves, relaxing, having fun, what do you think?"

None of them had anything against it, so they spent the day together, enjoying what would likely be the last time that they could be carefree teenagers and pretend that their world wasn't at war and that they weren't afraid of what was to come.

* * *

The following day at 9:30am they asked Dobby to take them to Gringotts, Dobby left them at the entrance and, trying not to be noticed, they entered the bank and went to a teller.

"Good morning, I received a letter telling me to come to the private Will reading of Sirius Black."

"Do you have the letter?" the goblin grumbled, Harry didn't think it was possible but it appeared that the goblins were even more unpleasant in the mornings.

Not wanting to anger the being Harry gave him the letter and waited. After saying who the letter was addressed to the goblin almost gaped and quickly led them to an office where they were told to enter after the goblin had spoken with the one inside.

When they went inside they saw an older goblin, looking far more regal than the teller, sitting behind a desk.

"Lord Potter, I'm glad you could come. I am Ragnok."

"Good morning Ragnok. Before we start, I have a question."

"Of course, I'll do my best to answer it."

"Why do you call me ' _Lord Potter_ '?"

Ragnok appeared surprised by the question though he masked it quickly.

"As head to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter it is your title, though you are only Lord because you are the last of your family, otherwise you would have been addressed as Heir Potter."

Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised, the Potters were an Ancient and Noble House? Why had nobody told him? What else had they hidden from him? Well, there went Dumbledore's promise about not keeping secrets, he thought.

"Well, we learn new things every day. You can call me Harry though, there is no reason to call me by a title that I didn't even know I had."

Ragnok was proud to say that very little surprised him, though he had to admit that the young Lord was doing a good job of it.

"Very well, Harry it is then. We can read the Will of Lord Black if you are ready."

"Yes, I want them to stay with me."

"We, here at Gringotts, have nothing against it, though we are not responsible for information that may be given to others by those present."

"I trust them with my life." Harry replied smiling.

The goblin apparently found the answer was enough. He got up and got something that looked like a pensive and put it in the middle of the desk, they heard him mutter a few words and in front of them appeared a Sirius Black that was approximately 8 inches tall, after a few seconds he spoke.

"Alright, can I start? Yes? Alright. I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound physical and mental health, state that this is my final Will.

Now that we got that out of the way let's go to the interesting part. Harry if you are seeing this then that means that I died before you turned seventeen and that Voldemort is still alive. In that case, I'm very sorry that I leave you to fight a war, if it were up to me I would have kidnapped you and hidden you away from all of this, but it isn't up to me, and you would never abandon your friends.

But just because I died doesn't mean I won't help you to the best of my abilities.

If I'm not completely wrong Dumbledore will continue to insist that you don't need to be trained, that you're biggest power is your capacity to love, even if that is true what will you do when you face the Death Eaters? Do you give them hugs and kisses and hope they don't do anything against you? It's completely ridiculous, so that means that you need training. To help you with your training I leave you the Black fortune, the Black proprieties, well everything of the Black's, you are my blood heir, legally your name is Harry James Potter-Black, though you can use only Potter, however politically being both Lord Potter and Lord Black can be rather useful if you ever want to play in politics. Use the Black libraries to help you train and the Potter's as well, the Black have more information on dark magic though, so use both of them to have more to chose from. They are rightfully yours.

With all of this you have resources. What you need now is time, in the middle of a war, time is something very hard to get, but not impossible if you are a Black, which you are, and considering the opponents that you have to face, time is what you need more, so it will be your choice if you use what I'm giving you, though I hope you will.

The spell I left in an envelope with Ragnok is dark magic and keyed to the Black blood. The spell changes the way the time flows in a certain space. When you cast the spell time goes faster in the place where you are, or maybe it's slower, I'm not really sure about that, what I do know is that one hour is the equivalent of one month inside the space where the spell is cast, meaning, 12 hours is the same as 1 year, 1 day 2 years, 5 days 10 years, though the person, or people, or beings, inside the space where the spell is cast don't age because technically only a few hours or days would have passed. Naturally you will mature, you ' _grow_ ' mentally, and your bodies will change, you can grow taller, have more muscle, anything really, you just don't age.

In the envelope is a letter that tells you how to use it. If you chose to cast the spell I advise you to do it at Potter Manor, it's huge and it even has it's own Quidditch pitch, you wouldn't find it boring at least. If you do it I also advise you in taking all your books there. Use everything at your disposal Harry, though never forget, no matter what path you chose the most important thing is your family. Voldemort has no one, they follow him because they are scared, don't make the same mistakes he did.

Well there is nothing more for me to say, I did everything I could so that you can finish a war that we started.

I love you Harry, I'm incredibly proud of you, I couldn't leave the Black name in better hands.

Ah, I almost forgot, from this moment on you are emancipated. Have fun and kick their asses."

And Sirius image disappeared, leaving the room in complete silence. The four friends were trying to absorb everything they had heard, Sirius had just given them everything they needed.

"Harry, I'll give you a few moments to talk to your friends, but then I will need to know if you accept and if you want the information that is in that envelope. I am only allowed to give you the information if you accept. I'll be back in a few minutes."

And Ragnok left, leaving them immersed in their thoughts.

"I think we should do what Sirius said. Time that we didn't have has been handed to us on a silver platter."

"And how much time would we use?"

"I don't know how the spell works, I would have to see the information Sirius left for us, but I think it's best if we don't use more than 10 years."

"Why Hermione?"

"Well, the first and most obvious reason would be so that we don't go crazy, being in a closed pace for that amount of time with the same people could cause some complications. Though we have a lot of things to do, so I don't think we would find it boring and Sirius did say that it was a huge manor, so we could stay out of each others way if we have a fight or something. The second reason is the money that we would need to buy supplies for us for ten years."

"I hadn't thought about that. I will have to talk with Ragnok so that he could tell me how much money I have and see if he could give us an estimate to how much we would spent. Dobby could buy everything. Do you think I have more elf's at the manor? They could help Dobby, I don't think he would be able to do everything alone. I have no idea if I have enough money for everything, we will have to see."

"If I were already 17 I would have been able to use the Longbottom fortune and the books that are in the Longbottom libraries. Though I'm the heir, the one responsible for all of it is my grand-mother, because she is legally my guardian. To change that I would have to be 17, or I would have to be adopted by another noble family, and the Lord of that family would become my guardian... oh, I'm so stupid! Of course, it's perfect! Harry, adopt me."

Harry looked at Neville with his eyes wide open, he could have sworn that he heard Neville tell him to adopt him.

"Can you repeat that Neville? I could have sworn that you told me to adopt you..."

"I did, not as your son of course, as your brother. You are Lord Potter and Lord Black, the control over the Longbottom fortune and libraries would go to you because I'm the heir, but as I would become a Potter you would have as much right to the things as I have, it would have to be a blood adoption but..."

"Neville, you don't need to. I have the Black fortune. You don't have to leave your name..."

"Harry, it isn't about leaving the Longbottom name behind, I'm proud of who my parents were, it isn't because I change my name that I won't be anymore. But the Longbottoms that still exist aren't my family, they are only relatives. I consider the people in this room my family... unless... unless you don't want to be my brother..."

"No, Neville. I already consider you my brother, and it would be an honor for me to make it official, I just don't want you to make the choice for the wrong reason."

"Harry, I always wanted a family, being part of yours is an honor."

"Wait," Hermione interrupted, and Harry saw that her eyes were suspiciously shinny, "Don't you need your guardian to approve of the adoption?"

"I'm over 14 years old, so the choice is mine, specially because it is a blood adoption. The legal guardian has no choice in this matter, it was a safety precaution that was implemented a few decades ago, because a legal guardian of a boy forced him into a marriage when he turned 15 so that he could still control the fortune. Since the minimum legal age to marry is 15, they decided that as soon as the child turns 14 he or she can decide if he or she wants to be adopted by someone else, without the legal guardian's authorization."

"In that case, we'll talk to Ragnok when he comes back and we will take care of everything. Hermione, you know that... do you want to be my blood sister as well?"

Hermione had already tears in her eyes, when she heard Harry she wasn't able to stop them from falling.

"I would love to." she whispered, hugging Harry with all her strenght.

"If you want me, I would also like to be your blood brother Harry. I know that I have family, parents, siblings, but you are everything to me. I love my family, I really do, but I never felt that I was a part of it. I always felt left out. But with you... I found my place with you."

"Oh, Ron..."

Not saying anything more, Harry hugged his brother. They all had relatives, but their family was in that room, together, trying to survive in a world that was on the brink of war, a war that had taken from them the childhood and innocence that every child deserves.

After a few more minutes, that the four siblings used to control themselves, Ragnok came back.

"Have you made a decision?"

"Yes, we are going to use it. But before we take care of that, I want to adopt Neville, Ron and Hermione."

"Adopt?"

"Yes Ragnok, blood adoption."

"Blood adoption? You realize that until you come of age Harry will be your legal guardian. And you, Mr. Longbottom, you will never be able to be Lord Longbottom and the Longbottom fortune that isn't in personal vaults, meaning the family vaults will be added to the Potter and Black fortune, and though Harry is the youngest he will always be Lord Potter and Lord Black. Aside from that your looks may change, gaining some of Harry's characteristics."

"Yes." the four replied at the same time.

"Very well, we will take care of that before we do the rest. Splitrock." Ragnok called and several moments later a much younger goblin enter the office and made a slight bow.

"Splitrock, bring me everything that is needed to perform three blood adoptions."

The goblin bowed again and left the room.

"If Harry has any magical abilities that are usually hereditary you may receive them as well."

"Like parseltongue?" Hermione asked, looking intrigued and Harry had to smile, she was always interested in learning more.

"Yes."

Splitrock was back rather quickly and as soon as he had left them Ragnok started to explain what they had to do.

"Harry will have to fill this form for each adoption, he has to write his name one it, the complete name of the person he is going to adopt and then the new name of the person and the relationship that they will have after the adoption is complete. When that's done, both will have to drop one drop of blood on the parchment. Then Harry will put one more drop of his blood in this potion and the other person has to drink the potion. You may feel some pain for a few seconds after taking the potion, though from what I've been told it is nothing unbearable. Who wants to go first?"

"Ladies first, you first Hermione, do you want to continue to have the same name? Do you want to change something?"

"I want to keep my first name, but I want you to give me my middle name."

"Alright, then you will go from Hermione Jane Granger to Hermione Mia Potter, alright?"

"It's perfect Harry."

Carefully Harry made a small cut on Hermione's finger and then on his, after they dropped the blood on the parchment it glowed a soft golden color and disappeared. Ragnok gave Harry the potion and he dropped another drop of blood in it, he mixed the potion and the blood and gave it to Hermione.

She didn't even hesitate, as soon as she had the small flask she drunk it. For a few seconds nothing happened, then suddenly Hermione let out a small scream and in front of their eyes her face started to change and her hair changed too. As soon as it started it stopped and Ragnok gave her a mirror so she could see the differences.

People that didn't know her well wouldn't have noticed the changes but to them they were as clear as day.

Her nose was a bit smaller, thinner, and her lips were a bit fuller. Her hair had soft waves and wasn't the bushy mess it used to be and there were natural black streaks through the honey brown color. The biggest difference though were her eyes, instead of her chocolate brown eyes, she had ' _Avada Kedavra_ ' green mixed in them, the exact same shad as Harry's. It gave them a rather unique look.

"I love it." Hermione whispered, hugging Harry again.

"I'm glad Hermione, welcome to the family," he answered with a smile, "Do you want to be next Neville?"

"Yes, I want to keep my first name and I want you to give me my smiddle name."

"Than instead of Neville Frank Longbottom, you'll be Neville Lerato Potter."

And they did the same thing for Neville as they had done for Hermione. Just like Hermione, Neville felt some pain though it passed quickly and Neville observed the differences. Again, people that didn't know him, or didn't deal with him on a day to day basis wouldn't have noticed the differences, but they were there. His face wasn't as round as before, and his hair was very dark brown, almost black, instead of the light brown it had been, and just like Hermione, his brown eyes had the same shade of green as Harry's mixed in it. When Neville finished assimilating everything he laughed and hugged his family.

"I want to keep my first name too, and for you to give me my middle name." Ron said with a wide smile on his face.

"Alright, you'll be Ronald Nero Potter instead of Ronald Billius Weasley."

Ron's transformation was as quick as the others though the changes were a bit more obvious. His cheekbones were a little higher and his jaw had a softer curve, the freckles he had on his face disappeared and his hair went from the usual Weasley red, to a dark red that shined a blood red when the light hit it right. His eyes went from sky blue to a more greenish turquoise.

Ron joined his siblings and hugged them laughing. For the first time they felt like they belonged.

Ragnok let them be for a while. The teens appeared to be lost in the moment, enjoying the new connection they had with each other. They knew it had been a hasty decision, but what they were feeling felt so right, it was as if it had always been like that, that it was the way it should be. They felt more at home with the four of them than they had ever felt with their families. They felt that their place was there, with the other three.

"Now that the adoption is done, we can proceed to the next order of business," Ragnok brought them back to the present, they still had many things to do, "If I understood you correctly, you have agreed to use the spell that Lord Black left you, correct?"

"Yes." Harry replied, there was no going back now.

"Great, then I just have to give you this envelope. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Actually, there is. I want a list of all my houses that are uninhabited, and how can I access them. And I want to know if we have enough funds to buy everything we need to live for ten years, for four people."

"Lord Potter, between the Potter, Black and Longbottom estate you have 17 uninhabited houses, to go to any of them you just have to use the Potter's family ring, say the name of the house and then say the password, in your case I believe it is ' _Prongs_ ', if I'm not mistaken your father was the one to chose the password, usually every head of house picks a new one when they become the head, however if you wish it you can keep the one you have, the ring will act like a portkey.

The financial matter, you have more than enough for the ten years, though I advise you to not make all your purchases in Britain and to buy things in the muggle world as well, otherwise people may find it strange that so many things 'disappear', besides I doubt that there would be enough if you only bought things in wizarding Britain.

And if I may be so bold as to suggest, for what you have in mind, the Ancestral Potter Manor. It's where the Potter library is, it has dueling rooms, training rooms, weapons rooms and it also has extensive grounds, so that you don't have be to inside all the time."

"Thank you Ragnok, is it possible to have a ring for them also?"

"It is possible yes, your ring is the Lord ring, their rings would be family rings, showing that they belong to house Potter."

"Alright, we also need something that allows my elf to access my vaults without him having to come here every time and we want something like that as well."

"The four of you can use your rings, they work like a muggle credit card. As for the elf, we can get him a key, link it to him and it would solve the situation, it would work like your rings. Is that acceptable?"

"Acceptable? It's perfect Ragnok, thank you."

"It's a pleasure Harry, now you only need to sign this documents and then we will have everything settled."

The rest of their time there was spent signing documents and seeing the family vaults that they could now access, in all of the vaults they found many books and weapons, Hermione was almost drooling at the amount of books she saw, and the boys were in awe of several swords and daggers that they had seen, though they didn't take any of them with them. They had other things to do first. When lunch came around they left the bank and went to the muggle side of the alley, there they found a deserted alley, and making sure that there was nobody near they activated their rings and went to their new home.

* * *

The rings took them to the entry hall of the Potter Manor. Harry could hardly believe it, the hall was huge, the Dursley house was as big as the hall. Considering the expression on his siblings faces they were a little overwhelmed as well.

Before they had the time to get over their shock, they heard several soft 'pops' and in front of them appeared twelve house-elfs.

"Welcome Masters Potters," the oldest elf greeted them, "I be Bink. We is very glad to have young Masters again."

"Hello Bink, I'm Harry and these are my siblings, Ron, Neville and Hermione," Harry introduced them, smiling kindly at the old elf, "Bink could you show us the manor, please?"

Immediately the little elfs were jumping around, wanting to show the new masters the part of the manor they were in charge of, so they spent almost two hours seeing everything the house-elfs had to show them.

The library left Hermione with starts in her eyes, it was as big as the one at Hogwarts and knowing they still had books to add to it made Hermione more than happy, she considered it her personal heaven.

The dueling, combat and training rooms left the boys in awe and they could hardly wait to try them out, Hermione was a little less excited but even she had that gleam in her eyes that showed just how much she liked it.

When they saw the grounds they couldn't help but stare, Sirius had told them that there were grounds, but they hadn't expected it to bit that big, they had four green-houses, a pool, a lake, stables and a forest. Not nearly as big as the forest at Hogwarts, but still, they had a forest. Though what Harry and Ron almost drooled over was the Quidditch pitch they saw.

In the dungeons they found several cells and a torture chamber, which surprised them quite a bit and Harry decided then and there to research his family history, they couldn't be as light as everybody said they were if they had their own torture chamber. Aside from that there were two potion labs.

Aside from the dungeons level the manor had six floors. The ground floor was the entry hall, the kitchen, the formal dinning room, the ball room, the sitting room, the family room and the first level of the library. In the middle of the library were stairs that led to the second, third and fourth level of the library.

The first, second and third floors, had several offices, dueling rooms, training rooms, weapon rooms and sitting rooms. On each of those floors was also a door that lead to the library.

The fourth and fifth floor were the bedrooms, the fourth floor was for guest and the fifth for family.

The sixth floor was very similar to an observatory, and part of the ceiling was invisible, it almost looked like they were outside, and several telescopes were spread through the space.

They were extremely impressed with their new home, and when they finally went to have lunch they were already thinking about everything they had to do before they could use the spell.

After lunch they went to the sitting room, where Hermione asked Harry to show her the envelope, it contained a letter that she read to the others.

' _Dear Harry,_

_If you are reading this letter then that means that you have opted to use the spell I told you about. It is with a heavy heart that I give you this spell, but I love you as if you were my own son and the least I can do is to make sure you survive or at least give you a better chance of surviving._

_As for the spell, it doesn't have a limit of people that are affected by the spell, so you don't have to do it alone, you can take people with you._

_As far as I could tell the longest that the spell was used was for five days straight, meaning that the people involved spent ten years wherever it was that they cast the spell._

_The incantation is "distortio spatio et tempore", after the spell is cast it's impossible to break it._

_You will only be able to leave the space where you cast the spell when the determined time is over, so be careful with the amount of time you chose._

_To define the space that is affected by the spell is quite simple. The spell affects the space in which you are, meaning that if you are locked in a room and cast the spell only that particular room will be affected, though the doors and windows have to be closed, while the spell is active nobody would be able to enter the room, nor would you be able to leave. If you want a whole house or manor to be affected by the spell you have to cast the spell in the entrance hall, or by the front door, I don't really understand the dynamics of it, but from what I understood it symbolizes the beginning of the home or something like that. And if you want the spell to affect the whole estate then you have to cast the spell outside near the wards, in that case the limit of the spell will be defined by the wards._

_As I told you before, while the spell is active nobody can go in, or leave. Everybody, being it human or not, will be affected by the spell, they don't even need to be near you while you cast, so be careful and make sure that only the ones you want are in the room, house, or estate._

_You will know that the spell worked because a bluish ward will surround the space that you chose, in case of it being an estate you will have artificial night and day, that is one of the functions of the ward._

_Choosing how much time you want is easy as well, you just have to think about the amount of time that you want to pass on the outside, for example, you want to be inside the spell for one month, then you have to think about one hour while casting. It is dark magic, so the most important thing is what you feel, your intent, you have to mean it. But that is also why the spell is dangerous, if you aren't concentrated enough and instead of thinking one hour, you think one month... well you can imagine how that would work out, can't you? You can't get distracted while casting, it could have terrible consequences._

_Well that's about it, it appears to be quite easy, but aside from the danger that it presents if you aren't careful, there is also the amount of power the spell requires. I know you can do it, you are one of the most powerful wizards alive, I have faith in you._

_There is nothing more for me to tell you, good luck Harry._

_I always loved you._

_Padfoot._ '

The four of them were silent for a few moments, they knew that it was the only way for them to gain the training that they so desperately needed, but it was a monumental decision.

"We will only do it if we all are absolutely sure that it is what we want." Harry told them, it was important for them to know that their opinion matter as well. After several moments Neville was the one to break the silence.

"I think that it's the only chance we have to survive. We have to be realistic about this, what are the odds of winning if we don't use this? I'm not talking about living to fight another day, I'm talking about winning the war, end it once and for all and finding peace."

"Looking at it from a realistic point, with the corruption of the government, the poor response of the aurors to the raids, the way the Order of the Phoenix handles the battles and the brutality and numbers of the Death Eaters, the probability for victory is very close to zero." Hermione informed them in her usual logical and calm voice. She wasn't saying it to discourage them, it were simple facts.

"I think... I think that we never had an option," Ron remarked, "We have been fighting since we were elven years old, destiny, the powers that be, or whatever there is made it so that we had to fight to survive. I suppose that now we have to end a war that our fathers started."

"Then, our decision is made?" Harry asked looking at the other three, seeing them nod he sighed and looked at Hermione, "We need to have everything ready in a weeks time, at the latest, the longer we take the more time the Order has to find us. What do we need Hermione?"

"First we need to decide how much time we will use."

"Ten years." Ron and Neville replied in unison.

"Are you sure?"

"Harry, of course we are sure. Ten years is the bare minim we must train. Voldemort has decades more than us of experience and so does his inner circle. Besides with the amount of things we have to learn I don't even think ten years will be enough, but it is better than nothing."

"Neville's right, we have a ton of things to study."

"I agree with the boys Harry."

"Very well, ten years and if I can't make the spell work for that long then we'll see what we'll do. So, what do we need Hermione?"

"Well, obviously, we need food. We need to bring all the books we have here, after we have them we have to see what we don't have a find those. Clothes, weapons, potions ingredients, something to entertain us, like chess, Quidditch, even muggle games. New wands, I would prefer if they were crafted for us. It's going to be difficult but I think we can do it in one week."

"Ok, first we should take care of food and things like that, then the books, weapons and potions ingredients and only after that should we look into games and such. The four of us will take care of the wands and clothes. Dobby."

"Master Harry called."

"Yes Dobby, I have a very important job for you." then Harry told him everything they were planning on doing and what they needed the elfs to do, "Do you think you can do it Dobby?" Harry asked when he finished.

"Dobby can. Not being easy but Dobby be doing it. Dobby is responsible for everything?"

"Yes, you are. If you have any questions or if there is any trouble talk with one of us, alright?"

"Of course Master Harry. Dobby be starting now." and the little elf disappeared with a soft pop.

"That's taken care of, let's get our new wands, shall we?" Harry asked already getting up from his seat, his siblings followed him, they activated their rings and went back to Diagon Alley.

* * *

They appeared at the portkey entrance at Diagon Alley. They all agreed to first buy some clothes and only after that to look at wands, they new that they would spent far more time trying to find the right wands than with the clothes.

Not wasting any time they went to Madam Malkins, where they bought several robes in dark colors, they asked for four of them to have a hood. After they had their robes they went to Gringotts and exchanged several galleons to pounds, following Hermione's advice they bought the rest of their clothes on the muggle side of London. Ron and Neville were a little overwhelmed when they saw the shopping center, though with Hermione's help they got everything they needed rather quickly.

After changing their clothes in a public bathroom, they went back to Diagon Alley and put on the robes with the hoods they had gotten from Madam Malkins and taking care not to be seen they went to Knockturn Alley.

It took them a while but they finally were able to find a little store that only had a sign with a rune as identification. Ragnok had told them that it was the best place to get wands, and for the right price they were extremely discrete.

The inside of the store was dark and it had a worn out look, behind the counter was a man that looked older than Dumbledore and as eccentric as Ollivander.

Harry walked towards the counter and with a confidant and smooth voice demanded "We want four customized wands that aren't traced by the Ministry."

"We haven't got nothing like that here... we make everything following the Ministry laws." the old man muttered, looking at Harry with dark blue eyes, he had an odd accent, Harry wasn't able to really place it but it looked like the old man was a foreigner.

"Of course..." Harry replied in that same smooth voice, "I suppose that Ragnok was wrong then... I can always take my galleons to some other store."

Slowly he turned and started to go towards the door.

"Wait, Ragnok you say?" the old man asked without a trace of an accent, after seeing Harry's nod he continued "Ragnok never steered me wrong... Alright, follow me."

The old man walked through a door that led to the back of the store and there they saw a work table surrounded by hundreds of shelves and cabinets. As soon as the door closed they felt wards rise and suddenly in front of them, where the old man used to be, was a man that appeared to be around thirty years old with the same dark blue eyes and light brown hair, he had a small smile on his lips and seemed to radiate a calm and serene aura.

"I apologize for all that, but sometimes people form the Ministry appear trying to close down my store. You seemed rather young, but you never know, I'm Elias by the way. You want four wands, isn't it?" seeing the four nod he continued, "Very well. I'm going to explain to you how I do things. There are several methods on how to craft wands, each wand maker has their own way, even if they learn the craft from a master, they end up adding their own personal touches to their process. The way I do it is the one I'm most comfortable with and the one that I believe has the most compatibility with the clients. When the wand is done, it generally is a perfect match.

Now, first you will take a potion, that potion will leave you in something similar to a trance and you will feel a pull in the direction of the material that will be used in your wand, after you have that you will wake up and I will give you another potion and this one is for the core of the wand. Any questions?"

"Yes, what if we feel that pull to something that isn't in the store?" Hermione asked and her brothers shared a smile, she was always so eager to learn new things.

"That has never happened before. Honestly, I don't think it's possible, for that to happen you would have to have an extremely deep connection, almost like a familiar bond or something like it and usually familiars aren't powerful enough to be part of their masters wand..."

"Alright, I think that we can start. Who wants to go first?"

"You can start Hermione, it looks like you are rather eager to try it." Harry answered with a smile.

Hermione smiled back and Elias gave her a small bottle. After smelling it, she drank it and after only a few moments her eyes gained a glazed look and she started to go towards some shelves, she took a box from one of them and went back to the work table where she put the box. After several seconds she was back to normal and a big smile appeared on her face.

"I never felt anything like that," she said, looking slightly amazed, "It felt like I was missing a part of me, and when I found it I was finally complete."

"Yes, usually that is what people feel, others feel something calling to them. So, ready for the core?"

Hermione just nodded and Elias gave her another small bottle and she got that glazed look in her eyes again. This time she went to one of the cabinets and took a small flask out of it and put it on the work table. Elias eyes opened wide when he saw what it was. Hermione was back to herself quickly and looked at Elias, wanting to know what she had picked.

"Very well... The wood for the wand is from a tree that only grows on the island of Azkaban, it is often called the Death Tree, because no matter what time of the year it is it never blooms and the wood is black. Some herbologists say that the presence of the dementors affected the trees many many years ago and they evolved to something that could live in that environment.

The core is dementor blood, I have never seen this combination, nor have I ever used dementor blood. I have no doubt that it is going to be an interesting wand..."

Hermione looked at her brothers with a fearful expression. Dementor blood? That didn't sound good at all, but they just smiled, and there was no recrimination in their eyes and she felt better. She knew that the three of them would never leave her, they would always be there for her, she never had to be alone again. Feeling her heart almost burst with joy she looked back to Elias and saw that he was putting the wood inside a bowl, that had several runes that she didn't recognized craved on it, then he added the blood. When both materials were inside the bowl he started to chant something in a language that they didn't know. After approximately ten minutes the bowl was surrounded by a bright red light and Elias stopped the chant. When the light vanished Elias smiled and took the wand from inside the bowl. It was a work of art, the wand was completely black and had a grip that looked like a skull, then the wood of the wand itself appeared to be braided till the middle of the wand, it looked deadly and feminine at the same time.

When Hermione took it they felt the temperature drop and black sparks shoot out of the wand surrounding Hermione. The power in the air was impossible to deny and the smile on her face said more than words ever could.

"Twelve and a quarter inches, that wand is perfect for charms and the dark arts, specially the more emotion based spells," Elias informed them, "I advise you to use it for a while before you use it in a duel or in battle, to get used to the difference. I suspect that this wand will be more powerful than the one you have now. You will have to learn how the control the amount of power you want the spell to have."

"Battle...?" Harry inquired nonchalantly.

"It is clear that the war is on our doorsteps. Unfortunately most people don't want to acknowledged it. I remember the first war, before you, Mr. Potter, brought an end to it. Don't look at me like that. I will not tell anyone who he is. As I was saying, I remember how it was. And neither side was winning, but neither side was willing to stand down. Some families were able to stay neutral, but even so it were difficult times. You, though, gave us a decade of peace, but it's over now. The main players are back in the game, we have the Dark Lord on one side, he wants to plunge our world in darkness, and we have the Light Lord on the other side and he wants to bath our world in light, between the two of them I don't know which is worse. And finally we have Harry Potter, what do you want to do to our world? Plunge it in darkness, or bath it in light?"

"Plunge it in darkness, or bath it in light? They would be blinded either way.

Light? Dark? It doesn't really matter to me, light isn't a synonym for good, nor is dark a synonym for evil. I don't think it's possible to have a world where one of them doesn't exist, they are opposites, without one there can't be the other. So I leave all that crap for the so called Lords and I will fight for me and my own. I will fight to survive.

I think that people forgot that I'm only a fifteen year old boy, and that I just want to live. However, unfortunately, I'm not naive enough to believe that I will be able to do that without fighting for it, that's the only reason I will participate in this war, for our right to live."

Elias just looked at him for a few moments, then he smiled and shook his head.

"I think that this time it will be impossible to stay out of it, though maybe this time there will be someone worth following. I'm just sorry that you have to lead them so young, but at least you're on the right track. I'm happy that my creations will help you. Shall we start with the next one?"

Neville was the next one, just like Hermione he went into a trance like state and went straight to a shelve, he took a small box from it and put it on the table, for the core it was the same procedure and he picked a small container.

Elias waited for Neville to get back to normal before he explained what the boxes contained.

"Just as the previous wand the materials are unique. The wood that called to you is from a tree that we think is extinct. It's from a time where demons still walked among humans, it's from a demonic three that was said to hold the portals that linked our world to the demonic realm. As you can see it is a very dark brown, though it has light brown veins, it gives it a unique contrast. The core is grounded lethifold bones, a cousin to demons, just like the dementors. I never used these materials either."

For Neville's wand Elias followed the same procedure he did with Hermione's wand and ten minutes later Neville was the proud owner of another work of art. The wand was eleven inches and it had two colors, the wood's dark color had a beautiful pattern that the light brown veins had given it. The handle was simple, though the light brown was centered there, and it started the pattern where the handle joined the rest of the wand and it went to the tip of the wand. When Neville held the wand for the first time you could almost see the magic around him.

Ron volunteered to be the next one and when he had left his trance like state Elias was shaking his head, sighing he explained what Ron had picked.

"I don't know why I'm surprised, let's see, the wood is from a tree that exists in the forests of the dark elfs. It is most often used in rituals to summon demons, again, I never used it to make a wand. The core is powdered fangs from a manticore, it is also a cousin to demons. Just like the other two, perfect for dark arts and offensive magic, while the previous one was defensive magic."

Ron was mesmerized with the beauty of the wand Elias gave him. It was 13 inches, it was reddish brown and had several dark brown lines that circled the handle and went up about a third of the wand. It was simple but sophisticated and when the light hit the wood it had the same blood red shine as his hair. Harry thought that it suited him rather well.

Finally it was his turn, he had to admit that he was rather excited to see what he would feel a pull, he had no idea what would suit him. Before the others had gone he would have guessed something like his holly wand, but seeing the other three he didn't think that he would get something like he had previously thought. He was a bit surprised by how dark their wands were, but it really shouldn't have surprised him, they were different now, and he knew that, just like he himself, they wanted revenge, they wanted to hunt down Death Eaters, they wanted to hurt them, see them bleed, cause them as much pain and fear as they had suffered, so really the dark nature of the wands shouldn't have surprised him. However their original wands hadn't stopped working for them, and their original wands were light, his was as light as they come. Both of the wands that they had reflected them perfectly, light and dark.

Smiling he took the potion, hardly being able to contain his excitement about his new wand. Just like with his siblings he went into a trance like state, however the similarities ended there. Harry stayed where he was, just looking in front of him with glazed eyes, after a few moments they heard a soft 'pop' and they saw Dobby appear beside Harry. He took Harry's hand and disappeared. All those present were only able to look at the spot were Harry had been in complete shock. After only several seconds, before they could do anything but gape, Harry reappeared and put something on the table, just a few moments later the potion lost it's effect and he was hit with questions.

"I don't know what happened, I felt something calling me, but it was far away, though I felt it was a part of me, I needed to have it. Suddenly I felt it right in front of me, I took it and then I was here."

"Dobby felt Master Harry, Dobby took Master Harry where he needed."

"Well, that was interesting to say the least, and what you brought back is even more so. This is a fang from a basilisk, and if I'm not mistaken it appears to be several hundreds of years old to be this long, though I can't say the age for sure without studying it a bit more. Where the hell did you get something like this?"

"Probably in the Chamber of Secrets, right?" answered Ron, looking at Harry.

"Yes, and seeing the blood on it, that one must be the one with which it bit me when I killed it."

Elias just gawked at him. He could hardly believe that he was standing in front of a teenager that spoke about killing a basilisk that was a thousand years old, considering that they were talking about THE Chamber of Secrets it had to be around one thousand years old, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, shacking his head he ended up asking, "Do you want to take the second potion?"

"Of course."

Elias sighed, he didn't even know why he had asked, apparently none of his clients found it alarming that things that usually didn't happen to other people happened to Harry Potter.

When Harry disappeared again Elias started to suspect that he knew why. Harry Potter, apparently, didn't fit in the category that most people considered ' _normal_ ' and you had to take into consideration that he was using wizards standards for ' _normal_ '.

This time though Harry took a little more time to appear again, almost five minutes later Harry reappeared and put on the table a little flask. After quickly inspecting the contents Elias informed them that it was venom from the same basilisk.

Then minutes later Harry had a completely white wand with a handle in the shape of a serpent. When Harry touched it for the first time a green light surrounded him and they could hear a hissing sound. When the light vanished, the snake handle was a metalized green and several engravings in the same color went to the tip of the wand to the handle.

The five just looked at it for several moments till Elias broke the silence.

"Well, this was without a doubt a really interesting experience."

Harry smiled and his siblings chuckled.

"I agree. If I have any friends that need similar service, may I send them here?"

"Of course, it will be my pleasure."

The four paid for their wands, though Elias refused to charge anything for Harry's wand, considering that they hadn't used anything from his store, and they went home. They had a long week ahead of them.

* * *

The following week went by rather quickly. It was tiring but with the help of the house-elfs they were able to organize everything. If everything went as planed the spell would end on the 30th of July.

Harry asked Hedwig to stay at Hogwarts, he didn't like the idea of her spending ten years only with the grounds to fly. She made it clear that she didn't like leaving, but eventually she flew to Hogwarts, though only after he promised her many treats when he started school again. He chuckled every time he remembered the glare she gave him when he tried to talk her into going, he loved her very much, but she was a very bossy owl.

They also learned, through Ragnok, that the Order was looking for them, though fortunately they had no idea where they were or how to contact them. They had found out that the owls couldn't reach them because of the wards erected around the grounds. The place was practically unplotable and nobody could cross the wards without authorization from the current Lord, technically they were living in the safest place in Britain.

However they were rather glad with how things were going in the Manor. Hermione was particularly pleased with the library. It had thousands of books and it was far bigger than Hogwarts' library. It had every magical field possible in it, it went from simple house-hold charms to Necromancy. Harry had allowed his elfs to buy any and all books that they thought were needed in the library or that they though would complement what they already had. The little ones took it further than he had thought and in a little over three days they had tripled the library. According to Ragnok they had spent more than eight million galleons in ancient books and parchments. Though Ragnok told them not to worry about it, considering that they hadn't even dented the vaults with the purchases. All in all they ended up with the biggest and most diversified private library in the world, naturally Hermione was in heaven.

Just like the library the elfs didn't do things by half when it came to the potion lab, and by the end of it they had every possible ingredient. Legal and illegal, they had it all. The four were sure that if Snape every saw everything they had at their disposal he would have been green with envy.

They were rather pleased with the outcome and were feeling more confident with the choice they had made. They were still nervous of course, but they knew there was no other choice and the fact that they were together gave them comfort.

And so it was that at noon, on the 25th of July, the four siblings were outside Potter Manor, near the wards. Harry looked at his siblings, took a deep breath and raised his wand.

" _D_ _istortio spatio et tempore!"_

* * *

For a few moments nothing happened and Harry thought that the spell hadn't worked, he was probably not strong enough to be able to cast the spell for such a long time. However, slowly they saw a bluish ward begin to rise around the grounds, they weren't able to see it completely but they were able to see that it formed a dome over the grounds and when the barrier closed, it shined a darker blue for a few moments and then disappeared.

They had done it.

They stood there, looking at the sky for several seconds. Planning it was one thing, but being able to pull it of was a completely different thing. But when it finally registered that they had truly done it they lost no time. They had a lot of things to do and far less time than what they would have liked to do it.

* * *

**1st Year**

_**Schedule** _

**06:30 – 07:00**

**Monday -** Running

**Tuesday -** Running

**Wednesday -** Running

**Thursday -** Running

**Friday -** Running

**Saturday -** Running

**Sunday - Free study**

**07:10 – 08:00**

****Monday -** Breakfast**

****Tuesday -** Breakfast**

****Wednesday -** Breakfast**

****Thursday -** Breakfast**

****Friday -** Breakfast**

****Saturday -** Breakfast**

**Sunday - Free study**

**08:10 – 10:00**

**Monday -** Transfiguration

**Tuesday -** Charms

**Wednesday -** Animagus Training

**Thursday -** Dark Arts (Practical)

**Friday -** Dark Arts (Theory)

**Saturday** \- Arithmancy

**Sunday - Free study**

**10:10 – 12:00**

**Monday -** Potions

**Tuesday -** Herbology

**Wednesday -** Occlumency/ Legilimency

**Thursday -** Arithmancy

**Friday -** Transfiguration

**Saturday** \- Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**12:10 – 13:00**

**Monday - Lunch**

**Tuesday - Lunch**

**Wednesday - Lunch**

**Thursday - Lunch**

**Friday - Lunch**

**Saturday - Lunch**

**Sunday - Free study**

**13:10 – 15:00**

**Monday -** Dark Arts (Theory)

**Tuesday -** Dark Arts (Practical)

**Wednesday -** Dark Arts (Theory)

**Thursday -** Charms

**Friday -** Dueling

**Saturday -** Dark Arts (Practical)

**Sunday - Free study**

**15:10 – 17:00**

**Monday -** Arithmancy

**Tuesday -** DADA

**Wednesday -** Transfiguration

**Thursday -** Potions

**Friday -** Ancient Runes

**Saturday -** DADA

**Sunday - Free study**

**17:10 – 19:00**

**Monday -** Occlumency/ Legilimency

**Tuesday -** Martial Arts

**Wednesday** \- Charms

**Thursday** \- Dueling

**Friday -** Dark Arts (Practical)

**Saturday** \- Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**19:10 – 21:00**

**Monday - Dinner**

**Tuesday - Dinner**

**Wednesday - Dinner**

**Thursday - Dinner**

**Friday - Dinner**

**Saturday - Dinner**

**Sunday - Free study**

**21:10 – 22:00**

**Monday -** Ancient Runes

**Tuesday -** Ancient Runes

**Wednesday** \- Ancient Runes

**Thursday** \- Ancient Runes

**Friday** \- Animagus Training

**Saturday** \- Occlumency/ Legilimency

**Sunday - Free study**

The day after they had cast the spell they started their training, following the schedule that Hermione had made for them.

For the first month they were sore, exhausted and far passed their limit. None of them was used to such a rigorous schedule but none of them complained. It was the path they had chosen, now they would follow it.

Waking up at six o'clock every day was a nightmare, and after the thirty minutes running, or fast walking, seeing as none of them was able to run for the whole thirty minutes, even Harry that had a bit more endurance because of his Quidditch training, they were exhausted and ready to crawl back to bed. Though they supported each other and continued with the schedule.

Slowly they built up their endurance, the time they were able to run grew and the fatigue they felt after the thirty minutes diminished. The endurance they gained also helped them with the martial arts and dueling training.

By the end of the year the four siblings were able to run the thirty minutes without much trouble, a fact that they were proud of.

Harry thought that it was a good idea to review everything they had learned at Hogwarts, it was a good way to get used to their new wands and to make sure that they had a good grasp on the basics. Agreeing with what Harry had pointed out, they started immediately and a little after a month and a half they had reviewed everything that they had been taught at Hogwarts in transfiguration. The three boys realized that at Hogwarts they hadn't paid attention to more than half of the theory which made the practical part much harder. Now they were able to do it much more easily.

When the year ended they had gone through the rest of Hogwarts' curriculum. Though Hermione was still the best at theory, the four were all approximately the same in the practical part.

Potions was similar, after going through the material again they realized that Snape hadn't given them even half of the information. Seeing why certain ingredients didn't mix, or why a potion had to be stirred for however long it was, and the difference between chopping and slicing made the whole process of making potions much easier. Though it would never be a favorite subject they knew how important it was to know how to make several potions.

By the end of the year they had started to memorize several potions, and they intended to add several others to their list. Hermione was more than happy to beat the knowledge into them if she had to, thankfully it never came to that and Hermione only had to remind them that the longer it took for them to memorize the potions they wanted and to know how to make them perfectly the longer they would have to be in the potions lab on their free time. It goes without saying that was more than enough to motivate the boys.

Charms also became easier after the revision. Things that previously made no sense whatsoever were perfectly logical now and they all felt much more confident about their spell-casting.

At the end of the year they had finished the Hogwarts curriculum and were rather satisfied with the progress they had made.

In Arithmancy and Ancient Runes they started from scratch, even Hermione, though she already had three years of study in the subject, she was happy to help her brothers when they needed. Ron didn't like ancient runes all that much but arithmancy became a passion and throughout the year it was quite normal to find Hermione and he talking about the subject.

Herbology, though Neville's passion, was approached with a far more carefree attitude. It wasn't that they didn't like the subject, but they were there to train and herbology wasn't as useful as the rest.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was by far the easiest for Harry, though he was proud to see that the other three were doing everything they could to keep up with his pace. When the year was up they had concluded the Hogwarts curriculum and had gone one to more advanced things.

With the Dark Arts they started with theory, after all it was a branch of magic of which they knew nothing about. They could start casting spells left, right and center but that didn't seem that productive to them, and besides they wanted to understand the dark arts, wanted to know what they were doing, so they started with theory and the following lesson they would do the practical.

It was a surprise to them when they discovered that they had no real difficulty in casting dark spells. As it was something new, something that they hadn't ever studied before, the initial apprehension they had felt quickly disappeared and gave place to curiosity and enthusiasm. Even the theory was fascinating to them and soon even in their free time they could be seen with books about dark magic. All in all they were very pleased with what they had achieved.

The hardest, for all of them was the occlumency and legilimency training. For a while they only studied the theory, reading and rereading everything that they had about the subject, but when they knew they could do no more with only theory they started practicing on each other. During that time they formed a unique connection, they knew every secret the others had, every insecurity, every fear. They became closer than what they though was possible and they knew the others as well as they knew themselves, however none of them felt uncomfortable and their relationship grew, they felt that they were accepted despite everything and that made them happier than they could remember ever being.

Their animagus training was going well too, Neville was the one that made more progress in every lesson, but the others weren't far behind. They could hardly wait to see what forms they would have so they gave it everything they had.

The dueling and martial arts training was tiring and more often than not they ended the training with bruises and cuts but they didn't care. As time went by they started seeing improvements and that gave them the motivation to continue.

Sunday was the only day they had free. Though none of them wasted the time they had. They woke up a little later, though never later than eight o'clock and they spent the morning studying branches of magic that interested them. Though the first months were dedicated to healing magic, it was useful and if they ever got seriously hurt they had no one there to look after them. Though the house-elfs knew how to care for them if something did happen and they weren't able to handle it. Even so they studied healing magic, they were going to war after all, it was something that could save their lives. After having a good base and knowing a few more complex healing spells, only Hermione and Neville continued to study the subject. Ron and Harry weren't that good at it and had only learned out of necessity.

Harry liked to spend his mornings studying obscure magics that he found in the ancient books that had been stored in the family vaults or the ones that the elfs had bought.

Ron on the other hand liked to read every book about strategy that he could find and many times they found him in the training rooms enacting battles, making note of their flaws, weak points, strong points and successes of every one of them. To him it was a chess game and he reveled in every new strategy he learned.

Hermione had nothing specific she dedicated herself to, whatever caught her interest was what she studied.

At the beginning Neville was the same, though towards the end of the year he stumbled upon a book about necromancy that caught his interest. Since then it was rare to see him without one of them in his possession.

Sunday afternoons were usually spent relaxing, they knew that they had to train but they needed some distraction as well. They were aware that if they spent their time only studying they would be able to handle the ten years.

And so the first year went by.

They studied more than they had ever done at Hogwarts.

They studied magics that they hadn't even dreamed about or knew existed.

They created a bond between them that they hadn't thought possible.

And they all knew, that they were doing the right thing, that they had made the right choice. They were aware that they had chosen the more difficult road. It was highly likely that people they knew would shun them for using the magic they were using, they had no illusion about how it was likely that they would be treated, they were certain that people would look at them with disdain, with distrust and it wouldn't surprise them if some of them wanted to lock them up in Azkaban, but even so, even knowing all that, they didn't regret the choice they had made.

* * *

**2nd Year**

_**Schedule** _

**06:00 – 07:00**

**Monday -** Running

**Tuesday -** Running

**Wednesday -** Running

**Thursday -** Running

**Friday -** Running

**Saturday -** Running

**Sunday - Free study**

**07:10 – 08:00**

**Monday - Breakfast**

**Tuesday - Breakfast**

**Wednesday - Breakfast**

**Thursday - Breakfast**

**Friday - Breakfast**

**Saturday - Breakfast**

**Sunday - Free study**

**08:10 – 10:00**

**Monday -** Transfiguration

**Tuesday -** Potions

**Wednesday -** Dark Arts

**Thursday -** Dueling

**Friday -** DADA

**Saturday -** Dark Arts

**Sunday - Free study**

**10:10 – 12:00**

**Monday** \- Charms

**Tuesday** \- Arithmancy

**Wednesday -** Dueling

**Thursday -** Dark Arts

**Friday -** Dueling

**Saturday -** Wandless Magic

**Sunday - Free study**

**12:10 – 13:00**

**Monday - Lunch**

**Tuesday - Lunch**

**Wednesday - Lunch**

**Thursday - Lunch**

**Friday - Lunch**

**Saturday - Lunch**

**Sunday - Free study**

**13:10 – 15:00**

**Monday -** Dark Arts

**Tuesday -** Weapons Training

**Wednesday -** Dark Arts

**Thursday -** Ancient Runes

**Friday -** Dark Arts

**Saturday -** DADA

**Sunday - Free study**

**15:10 – 17:00**

**Monday -** Dueling

**Tuesday -** Dark Arts

**Wednesday** \- Wandless Magic

**Thursday** \- Weapons Training

**Friday -** Ancient Runes

**Saturday -** Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**17:10 – 19:00**

**Monday -** Wandless Magic

**Tuesday** \- Dueling

**Wednesday -** Martial Arts

**Thursday** \- Wandless Magic

**Friday -** Arithmancy

**Saturday -** Weapons Training

**Sunday - Free study**

**19:10 – 20:00**

**Monday - Dinner**

**Tuesday - Dinner**

**Wednesday - Dinner**

**Thursday - Dinner**

**Friday - Dinner**

**Saturday - Dinner**

**Sunday - Free study**

**20:10 – 22:00**

**Monday -** Ancient Runes

**Tuesday -** Wandless Magic

**Wednesday -** Arithmancy

**Thursday -** Martial Arts

**Friday -** Ancient Runes

**Saturday -** Wandless Magic

**Sunday - Free study**

The second year started the same way the first one ended, studying, training and research. The only difference was the alterations that their schedule underwent, aside from that, things continued the same. Though now they found it much easier to follow through whit the schedule that they had set, they had become used to the rigorous training and they couldn't say that they weren't seeing the results. It was amazing how much a person could learn and improve when they did nothing else.

However the changes were not only on the magical and intellectual level, though they didn't age their bodies did change. So it was only natural that with all the physical training they were doing and balanced meals provided by the elfs, the four teens started to have bodies that would have made any athlete green with envy.

Ron believed that they should focus more on dueling and physical training considering that the Death Eaters had years of experience, the others agreed, so they reduced the hours they dedicated to things thaught at Hogwarts, like transfiguration.

Harry on the other hand had found books about Wandless magic and they all agreed on adding it to the schedule, it was extremely useful. However they quickly found out that it was extremely difficult and only Harry appeared to have a real talent with it. Not wanting to give up so easily, the other three used every opportunity to train and read about the subject. At the end their persistence paid of and they were able to cast every spell in their Hogwarts books wandless, though they weren't quite at Harry's level, they were able to do far more than most wizards and witches. Even so they weren't satisfied and continued to practice.

Before they knew it the year was up and they continued to improve at an astounding rate.

Occasionally they would think about the world outside, wondering what was going on, what were the others thinking, had Voldemort attacked, was the Order worried, though they never let those thoughts consume them for long. They would remember why they were there, why they had made the choices they had and they went back to training with renewed determination.

* * *

**3rd Year**

_**Schedule** _

**06:00 – 07:00**

**Monday -** Running

**Tuesday -** Running

**Wednesday -** Running

**Thursday -** Running

**Friday -** Running

**Saturday -** Running

**Sunday - Free study**

**07:10 – 08:00**

**Monday - Breakfast**

**Tuesday - Breakfast**

**Wednesday - Breakfast**

**Thursday - Breakfast**

**Friday - Breakfast**

**Saturday - Breakfast**

**Sunday - Free study**

**08:10 – 10:00**

**Monday -** Transfiguration

**Tuesday -** Potions

**Wednesday -** Wandless Magic

**Thursday** \- Arithmancy

**Friday** \- Ancient Runes

**Saturday -** Dark Arts

**Sunday - Free study**

**10:10 – 12:00**

**Monday -** Charms

**Tuesday** \- Arithmancy

**Wednesday** \- Dark Arts

**Thursday -** Warding

**Friday -** Wandless Magic

**Saturday** \- Warding

**Sunday - Free study**

**12:10 – 13:00**

**Monday - Lunch**

**Tuesday - Lunch**

**Wednesday - Lunch**

**Thursday - Lunch**

**Friday - Lunch**

**Saturday - Lunch**

**Sunday - Free study**

**13:10 – 15:00**

**Monday -** Dueling

**Tuesday -** Dark Arts

**Wednesday** \- Martial Arts

**Thursday -** Weapons Training

**Friday -** Dark Arts

**Saturday** \- Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**15:10 – 17:00**

**Monday -** Dueling

**Tuesday -** Dark Arts

**Wednesday -** Dueling

**Thursday** \- Dueling

**Friday** \- Dueling

**Saturday** \- Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**17:10 – 19:00**

**Monday** \- Dueling

**Tuesday** \- Dark Arts

**Wednesday** \- Dueling

**Thursday -** Dark Arts

**Friday -** Warding

**Saturday -** Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**19:10 – 20:00**

**Monday - Dinner**

**Tuesday - Dinner**

**Wednesday - Dinner**

**Thursday - Dinner**

**Friday - Dinner**

**Saturday - Dinner**

**Sunday - Free study**

**20:10 – 22:00**

**Monday -** DADA

**Tuesday -** Wandless Magic

**Wednesday -** Ancient Runes

**Thursday -** Rituals

**Friday -** Martial Arts

**Saturday -** Wandless Magic

**Sunday - Free study**

As time went by their schedule became more repetitive, though none of them complained. They knew that there were certain fields where they had to get better and if that meant they had to spent six hours per day on the same subject, then that was what they would do.

Dueling was something that they increased immensely, they had twenty hours per week on dueling alone, not even counting the dueling practice they did on their free time. The first few weeks gave a new meaning to the word _exhausted_.

Neville though was responsible for a breakthrough they had in dueling. He found a book that taught them how to create training dummies that they could program with several levels of difficulty. They could program them to have magical knowledge and power identical to theirs, inferior or even superior to theirs. They could also use an option where it worked like a learning program, in which the dummy was always a level above theirs, until they reached that level, when that happened the dummy would adjust to a new level.

After having created a dummy for each of them, the dueling practice became much harder, though they admitted that it was much better than before. After a few months Harry as well as Neville were well on their way of becoming dueling Masters and the other two weren't far behind.

Hermione thought it was a good idea to try to create dummies that they could use for martial arts and weapons training as well. After a little of experimenting, a few failed attempts Hermione was finally able to alter the dummies for the purpose she wanted, so a little over a month later all of them had several personal dummies that they used in their trainings.

Just like the dueling training, martial arts and weapons training improved a great deal.

Ron and Neville were becoming exemplary swordsmen, and even though Harry and Hermione preferred daggers, they weren't bad with swords either, though Harry was more partial to katanas.

All of them learned to fight with a sword in one hand and a wand in the other, it wasn't easy and they had the wounds to prove that, but with practice they became ambidextrous and were able to wield wand and sword with either hand. They couldn't help but feel proud of what they had achieved. They still had a long way in front of them, but their objective didn't seem so unreachable.

* * *

**4th Year**

_**Schedule** _

**06:00 – 07:00**

**Monday -** Running

**Tuesday -** Running

**Wednesday -** Running

**Thursday -** Running

**Friday -** Running

**Saturday -** Running

**Sunday - Free study**

**07:10 – 08:00**

**Monday - Breakfast**

**Tuesday - Breakfast**

**Wednesday - Breakfast**

**Thursday - Breakfast**

**Friday - Breakfast**

**Saturday - Breakfast**

**Sunday - Free study**

**08:10 – 10:00**

**Monday** \- Transfiguration

**Tuesday -** DADA

**Wednesday** \- Rituals

**Thursday -** Wandless Magic

**Friday -** Ancient Runes

**Saturday -** Warding

**Sunday - Free study**

**10:10 – 12:00**

**Monday -** Charms

**Tuesday -** Wandless Magic

**Wednesday** \- Wandless Magic

**Thursday** \- Warding

**Friday -** Wandless Magic

**Saturday** \- Rituals

**Sunday - Free study**

**12:10 – 13:00**

**Monday - Lunch**

**Tuesday - Lunch**

**Wednesday - Lunch**

**Thursday - Lunch**

**Friday - Lunch**

**Saturday - Lunch**

**Sunday - Free study**

**13:10 – 15:00**

**Monday** \- Arithmancy

**Tuesday -** Dueling

**Wednesday -** Martial Arts

**Thursday -** Dark Arts

**Friday -** Dueling

**Saturday -** Dark Arts

**Sunday - Free study**

**15:10 – 17:00**

**Monday -** Ancient Runes

**Tuesday -** Dueling

**Wednesday -** Martial Arts

**Thursday -** Dark Arts

**Friday -** Dueling

**Saturday -** Dark Arts

**Sunday - Free study**

**17:10 – 19:00**

**Monday -** Potions

**Tuesday -** Dueling

**Wednesday -** Weapons Training

**Thursday -** Dark Arts

**Friday -** Martial Arts

**Saturday -** Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**19:10 – 20:00**

**Monday - Dinner**

**Tuesday - Dinner**

**Wednesday - Dinner**

**Thursday - Dinner**

**Friday - Dinner**

**Saturday - Dinner**

**Sunday - Free study**

**20:10 – 22:00**

**Monday -** Wandless Magic

**Tuesday -** Warding

**Wednesday -** Warding

**Thursday -** Wandless Magic

**Friday -** Wandless Magic

**Saturday -** Warding

**Sunday - Free study**

* * *

**5th Year**

_**Schedule** _

**06:00 – 07:00**

**Monday -** Running

**Tuesday -** Running

**Wednesday -** Running

**Thursday -** Running

**Friday -** Running

**Saturday -** Running

**Sunday - Free study**

**07:10 – 08:00**

**Monday - Breakfast**

**Tuesday - Breakfast**

**Wednesday - Breakfast**

**Thursday - Breakfast**

**Friday - Breakfast**

**Saturday - Breakfast**

**Sunday - Free study**

**08:10 – 10:00**

**Monday -** Potions

**Tuesday -** Wandless Magic

**Wednesday -** Weapons Training

**Thursday -** Wandless Magic

**Friday -** Wandless Magic

**Saturday -** Warding

**Sunday - Free study**

**10:10 – 12:00**

**Monday -** Charms

**Tuesday -** Warding

**Wednesday -** Warding

**Thursday -** Weapons Training

**Friday -** Weapons Training

**Saturday -** Rituals

**Sunday - Free study**

**12:10 – 13:00**

**Monday - Lunch**

**Tuesday - Lunch**

**Wednesday - Lunch**

**Thursday - Lunch**

**Friday - Lunch**

**Saturday - Lunch**

**Sunday - Free study**

**13:10 – 15:00**

**Monday -** Transfig.

**Tuesday -** Dark Arts

**Wednesday -** Dueling

**Thursday -** Dueling

**Friday -** Dark Arts

**Saturday -** Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**15:10 – 17:00**

**Monday -** Arithmancy

**Tuesday -** Dark Arts

**Wednesday -** Dueling

**Thursday -** Dueling

**Friday -** Dark Arts

**Saturday** \- Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**17:10 – 19:00**

**Monday -** Ancient Runes

**Tuesday -** Dark Arts

**Wednesday -** Dueling

**Thursday -** Dueling

**Friday** \- Martial Arts

**Saturday** \- Dueling

**Sunday - Free study**

**19:10 – 20:00**

**Monday - Dinner**

**Tuesday - Dinner**

**Wednesday - Dinner**

**Thursday - Dinner**

**Friday - Dinner**

**Saturday - Dinner**

**Sunday - Free study**

**20:10 – 22:00**

**Monday -** Wandless Magic

**Tuesday** \- Rituals

**Wednesday -** Dark Arts

**Thursday** \- Dark Arts

**Friday -** Dueling

**Saturday** \- Wandless Magic

**Sunday - Free study**

* * *

**6th/7th/8th/9th/10th Year**

_**Schedule** _

**06:00 – 07:00**

**Monday -** Running

**Tuesday -** Running

**Wednesday -** Running

**Thursday -** Running

**Friday -** Running

**Saturday -** Running

**Sunday -** Running

**07:10 – 08:00**

**Monday - Breakfast**

**Tuesday - Breakfast**

**Wednesday - Breakfast**

**Thursday - Breakfast**

**Friday - Breakfast**

**Saturday - Breakfast**

**Sunday - Breakfast**

**08:10 – 14:00**

**Monday** \- Dueling

**Tuesday** \- Martial Arts

**Wednesday -** Weapons Training

**Thursday -** Dark Arts

**Friday -** Battle

**Saturday -** Dark Arts

**Sunday -** Tournament

With the amount of things the siblings had to do they almost didn't notice the five years pass, but in those first five years they had learned more than what they though possible.

Hermione, being the one that usually established the schedule, thought it was best if they spent the last years using everything they had learned, after all it didn't matter if you had the knowledge, the most important thing was to know how to use that knowledge, and that was what she focused on. She also decided to leave the afternoons free so that each one could dedicate themselves to the fields they had the most interest in, they had after all one of the best libraries at their disposal.

Aside from dueling, martial arts, weapons training and dark arts, Hermione added Battle and Tournament to the schedule.

Dueling, martial arts and weapons training continued to be with the dummies they had created, however in the Tournament they fought against each other. They would randomly be paired up, they would fight and the winners would then fight each other. It was a good way to learn new things, considering that they would be watching the other fights before or after their own.

Battle was precisely that, they created dozens of dummies, with several levels of strength, from rather weak, to above their own levels, they would go to the grounds that surrounded the Manor and there they had battle simulations. They knew it would be different when they went up against Death Eaters, hell they had already experienced how it would be against Death Eaters, but at least they were gaining experience.

And so it was, that ten years after that unforgettable July the 25th, that the four siblings were standing in the same location where Harry had cast the spell. In five minutes time it would be noon and the spell would break and they couldn't help but feel a little anxious, in the world outside of those wards, only five days had gone by but to them... to them ten years had passed. Ten years where they hadn't seen or even talked with people they cared for, ten years where they only had each other, ten years where they had stopped being the children they had been, children that those same people were expecting to see and still believed them to be, and though they tried not to think about it, they couldn't help but wonder if they would accept them the way they were now.

They heard a soft humming sound and they saw the soft blue barrier appear for a few seconds, then it glowed a dark blue again and it seemed like it shattered into millions of pieces. With a sigh Harry turned to his siblings.

"I suppose it's time to go."

With a resolute nod the four of them apparated to the front of 12, Grimmauld Place.


	11. Third side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> Warnings: Violence, blood and a bit of gore. As is stated in the summary this story is slash, and in this chapter there will be the 'beginning' of a relationship between two male characters. Well it's not really a beginning, it's more a character admitting to himself that he has feelings for another character.

**Chapter 11 – Third side**

They appeared in front of number 12, fortunately Dumbledore had told Neville the secret before he had gone home for the summer holidays, when his grandmother had joined the Order, if he hadn't it would have made their plan a little more difficult.

The plan was rather simple, they would enter Grimmauld Place surreptitiously, hoping that there was no Order meeting, or at least that not many people were present, then they would surprise those present with their appearance, hoping that the chaos that would come from it would make it easier for them to avoid an interrogation about their ' _disappearance_ ', at least for a little while. Simple and effective, in reality none of them believed that it would work but they could still hope.

Looking one last time at his siblings, Harry started walking to the front door of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

The part of the plan that consisted of entering Grimmauld Place sneakily went without a hitch, the rest of the plan not so much.

As soon as they neared the kitchen door they felt the wards around it, telling them that the Order was having a meeting. Cursing their luck Harry dismantled the wards and went inside, the other three following him.

As soon as the door opened and they entered, they found around twenty wands pointed at them and they all had to control themselves so that they wouldn't take their own out. Harry laughed.

"Well, if this is the welcome that we receive here, I don't even want to imagine how Voldemort would greet us."

His siblings smiled but the Order members continued to look at them a bit perplexed. A few seconds went by till Remus whispered, "Harry? Is that you? Ron, Neville? Hermione?"

"Of course it's us, Moony, who else would we be?" muttered Ron, his voice was a bit deeper and it had a rough edge to it.

That was all it took for total chaos to erupt. Some shouted questions at them, others demanded prove that they were really them, while others just looked at them incredulous.

"Silence!" yelled Dumbledore, gaining everybody's attention, "It is obvious that several things happened the last few days that we are unaware of. Harry, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Longbottom and Miss Granger, please take a seat and explain to us where you were these last few days."

Hermione, Neville and Ron smiled when they heard those names, it had been a long time since the last time they considered themselves anything other than Potters, though, for the time being, they could comply with their wishes. They waited for Harry to sit and then they positioned themselves around him, Neville on his right, Hermione on his left and Ron standing behind him. It were habits that they had acquired throughout the years, Harry was their leader and that was how they behaved, it wasn't something that they had trained, it was more like the natural order of things for them. Their behavior was noticed by every member and some of them couldn't help but compare them to a general and his lieutenants.

"I assume that you have questions..." Harry started, giving those present an open invitation to start the interrogation that was sure to follow.

"As you can imagine Harry, we are all wondering where you were these last few days and why you thought it was necessary to put your lives in danger." the headmaster told them with a grandfatherly smile.

"We were at home, and we were not in any danger." Harry answered without any emotion on his face.

"Harry, we know that you were not at the Dursleys, there is no need to lie..."

"With all due respect Headmaster, I said that we were home, not that we were at the Dursleys." replied Harry calmly, ten years had done wonders to his temper.

"Very well, and where exactly is that home?"

"I'm sorry Headmaster," Hermione started in the same tone that Harry had, "But how does that concern you?"

The silence that followed was rather oppressive, none of the Order members remembered anyone denying the headmaster anything, even the ones that didn't like him were hard pressed not to answer his questions or do what he said. Dumbledore, however, got over his shock quite quickly and the Potters had to respect the way he was able to maintain his calm and serene persona.

"Miss Granger, as you..."

"Potter." Hermione interrupted him and her three brothers shared a smile. Their Mione loved to cause chaos, something that had changed from the Hermione they knew and that would surprise many that were used to a more calm and rule abiding girl.

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore asked, looking a little lost, it wasn't a look that many had seen on the headmaster's face.

"My name is Potter." Hermione informed him calmly.

Their expressions went from confused to shocked in a millisecond and before anyone could stop it the shouts of Mrs. Weasley filled the kitchen.

"Never in my life have I seen such irresponsible behavior! You haven't even finished your education! The first thing we'll do is go to the Ministry to ask for an annulment! You are not even of age..."

She didn't go any further because Neville started laughing. His laughter shocked Mrs. Weasley so much that she stopped shouting.

"Mr. Longbottom, I don't see what is so funny." they could hear the forced calm in the headmasters voice, if there was something that Dumbledore didn't like it was not knowing what was going on.

Neville stopped laughing and all his emotions disappeared from his face, it was a mask of ice.

"Potter." he said, just like his siblings his voice betrayed no emotions.

"What do you mean?" inquired Dumbledore.

"My name is Potter."

There was silence again, confusion written all over their faces. Mrs. Weasley was the one who once more broke it.

"What kind of joke is this? I think it's best that you stop this instant and tell us where you were!" when she finished she was shouting again and she had gotten up from her chair.

Ron sighed and shook his head, Molly Weasley would never change.

"It is not a joke, nor a prank," he answered, "It is our name, she is Hermione Mia Potter, he is Neville Lerato Potter and I am Ronald Nero Potter, on the 18th of July we were blood adopted by Harry James Potter, Lord Potter, as his siblings."

He told them with a calm and confident voice, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and for them it was, for the Order however it was a completely different story. They were more than shocked. Blood adoptions were rare, they would basically change the DNA of the person involved. They wouldn't be the same person anymore and the changes weren't only physical, they were also magical, and that was the reason why most people didn't do it. Depending on who was the one adopting the one being adopted could have his or her magical core drastically changed, it could get bigger, though the possibility of it getting smaller was also there.

Now that they were really looking at the teens they could see the differences, they could see the Potter and Evans blood in them, even Harry looked different, he had shoulder length hair, that framed his face. He had a swimmers built and he was no longer the shortest among the four, he appeared to be over 5,6ft though shorter than 5,9ft, it was difficult to tell while he was sitting. However the biggest difference was the absence of his famous glasses.

Hermione was the shortest, she was about a head smaller than Harry, her hair had natural black streaks through it and soft waves. Her eyes also had traces of the same green in them as Harry's. She had an athletic body and seemed to have a feline grace.

Neville was just a little bit taller than Harry though he was far more built. His muscles were well defined and he was rather intimidating. Nobody could link him to the shy, clumsy boy that they had known.

Ron was without a doubt the tallest, standing a head above Neville. He was well built as well, though not as well as Neville, he was somewhere between Harry and Neville's body type. The rash, hotheaded teenager had long disappeared and Ron appeared to be the picture of calm and collect.

Most of the Order thought that the four of them presented an intimidating image. However as soon as they got over the initial shock, the Matriarch of the Longbottom family was heard.

"Neville! How dare you? Do you know what you have done? What about the Longbottom name? And your father? You trow away everything he is? You were going to be Lord! What you did is a disgrace to the Longbottom family."

"Mrs. Longbottom, the decision I made was the best one for my family, and by family I mean, my brothers and sister. The Longbottoms never cared about me, they only ever talked to me to make sure I knew I was never going to be as good as my father, and you Mrs. Longbottom never failed to show me how much of a disappointment I was. Now I'm accepted for who I am, my family doesn't compare me to anybody else. I still see Frank and Alice Longbottom as my parents, and I am proud to be their son, and I believe that they would have loved me no matter what decision I make. As for being Lord Longbottom, it's something that I would give up without a second thought if it meant gaining what I did."

Hearing the once shy boy talk like that was a shock to the Matriarch, and hearing her only grandson calling her Mrs. Longbottom broke her heart, however what caused her more pain than any of it was knowing that every word he had said was the complete truth. She sat back down on her seat, looking at the table, trying to stop the tears from falling when she realized just how much she had hurt her child's son.

On the other side of the table the Weasleys, aside from Ginny and Percy, looked at Ron with wide eyes. He had many similarities to Ron Weasley, but it was possible for them to see Potter traits in him. Molly had tears in her eyes, she didn't want to lose one of her babies.

"Ron..." she whispered almost to low for anyone to hear.

Ron looked at them and even if his expression didn't change, his eyes softened a bit.

"I want you to know that my decision had nothing to do with you. I love you, I had a really happy life with you and I would die for any of you. But no matter how much I love you, I never felt I was part of the family, I always felt as if I couldn't live up to the expectations, I always felt it was a competition between my older brothers and I, and I felt that I couldn't possibly win, I felt so out of place. Then I went to Hogwarts and I met my siblings and I knew. I knew that I belonged, I know that no matter what they would stand with me, I knew I had found my place, my family. They complete me. For you I would die, but for them... for them I would kill. I will always consider you family, and if you allow me I will still call you mum and dad and love you as such, however before you agree, before you say anything at all, I want you to see who Ronald Potter is."

The Weasleys just nodded, they didn't know what to say. This Ron seemed so mature. This Ron left them not knowing how to react.

The others looked at Hermione and she promptly replied without any emotion on her face, just like her brothers.

"The Grangers never really accepted the fact that their daughter was a witch. They believed that it was just a phase that I was going through and that in a few years I would go back to dedicate myself to being a muggle Doctor just like them, they expected me to go back to being their perfect, intelligent daughter. When I told them what was happening in my world, they went crazy. They said they had enough of me going around playing, when I should be applying myself to what really mattered. They said that they had indulged in my silliness long enough and it was time for me to be a proper girl again. They didn't want me to come back. They threw away many of my magical things, burned some of them. They said that if I ignored my magic it would eventually leave me. They didn't hear my protests, they didn't care that they were destroying a part of me, so I changed their memories. They don't remember they had a daughter and considering that we don't have any other family members nobody will notice anything. The neighbors won't notice because I told them that we would be moving to the States because they had gotten a unique business opportunity. They are on the other side of the world now. My brothers are the only family I have."

Dumbledore may not have been showing it but he was as shocked as the rest. It had never crossed his mind that the four teens trusted each other so much, much less that they were so loyal to Harry that they would follow him to that extent. They had changed themselves for him, it was impressive. And even though their story was surprising they still didn't know where they had been.

"Very well, but that still doesn't tell us where you were."

"As my sister said, how is that your concern?"

"Harry, you know how dangerous..."

"Headmaster, if the Order couldn't find us and considering that Tom doesn't know that we were ' _away_ ', in what kind of danger do you think we were in?" Harry inquired calmly.

However, before Dumbledore could answer Snape opened his mouth.

"Listen here brat, you just have to do what the Headmaster tells you. After you caused Black's death I had thought that it would have cured you of that arrogance, however it seems like I gave you far to much credit, you are a Potter after all." he sneered, his eyes burning with hatred.

Most of the members were looking at Snape with range in their eyes, very few liked the bitter man and most were convinced that he had gone to far. Some of them were looking at the quartet, specially Harry, his temper was legendary, and they wanted to see what he would do. Most were disappointed with what happened.

"Considering that I am not part of the order and that it is the summer holidays, the Headmaster has no authority over me," Harry replied in a calm and indifferent tone, "Are there any other questions you would like to ask?"

Snape opened his mouth to, without a doubt, insult them some more, but a look from Dumbledore stopped him.

Dumbledore had lost the twinkle in his eyes and sighed, he threw them a look that clearly said ' _I'm so disappointed_ _in_ _you_ '.

"Can you at least tell me what was so important that you risked your lives for it?"

"I think it's obvious Headmaster," Harry answered looking at Dumbledore incredulously, "We were training and preparing for war."

That answer left them all astonished, that wasn't the answer they had been expecting.

"War?" whispered Mr. Weasley.

"Yes, war," Neville replied, "Just because Tom has been calm doesn't mean he will stay that way."

"Exactly, he was laying low because no one believed he was back and it helped him furthering his plans." Ron added.

"Now everyone knows that he is back, it won't be long until Tom starts using tactics that he used in the first war." Hermione continued.

"And considering that Tom loves the fear that he is able to cause and he always liked drama, I have no doubt that he will be planing something big for sometime in the near future, almost like an ' _official_ ' beginning of the second war, something that will cause immense fear and panic, just the way he likes it." Harry concluded.

Several Order members were positively surprised, these children, that weren't even out of Hogwarts, had come to the same conclusion that they had, though instead of hiding, like most would have done, they resolved to prepare themselves. Though they were positively surprised, they couldn't help but think: what the hell could they have learned in two weeks.

Though several were thinking the same thing it was Snape that asked the question, well, the Potters at least decided to interpret it as a question instead as the insult that Snape intended.

"And what could a bunch of incompetent imbeciles such as yourselves possibly learn in two weeks?"

"We have training tomorrow morning at six am, you are free to go see what a bunch of incompetent imbeciles like us have learned," answered Harry, "Anyone who wishes it is free to go, though from six to eight it's only warm-ups and breakfast, the real training starts at ten past eight."

Dumbledore, seeing an opportunity to see where they had been the past days, seized it.

"And where will we be able to see that training? I'm curious to see what you learned."

"Ah, I almost forgot," exclaimed Harry, "Thank you for reminding me. Dobby!"

Most looked at Harry confused, but only a few moments later they heard a low 'pop' that alerted them of the arrival of a house-elf.

"Master Harry called."

"Yes, Dobby, I want you to transform the basement in this house into a training room, like the ones we have at home. I want it to have the same size, the same characteristics, I want it to be identical. Though I want it to have a shield around it and a few stand, so that if people want to they can watch the training, I want it all done by tomorrow at six. We will maintain the same routine, breakfast at the usual time. Do you think you can do it?"

"Dobby can, Dobby ask help. Masters training room be ready tomorrow at six."

"Thank you Dobby, you can go." Harry smiled at the little elf, "Well, now that's taken care of. Let me answer your question, you just need to go down the stairs of that door." Harry said, pointing at the door behind the headmaster.

"Well, if you have no more questions for us, we'll be going. We still have homework to do." Harry, Ron and Neville shared a smile, some things never changed, but they were happy about it, it were those small things that made them who they were and it was good to see that even after everything, deep down they were still themselves.

Seeing as nobody said anything, the four said their goodbye and left the kitchen.

Really almost all the members had questions, but they didn't know how to ask them. A big part of them decided that it was best to see their training. They weren't expecting much, they were after all only sixteen years old, but they didn't lose anything if they went to see what they would do.

The Weasleys hadn't said anything, though it wasn't because they hadn't anything to say, they were still thinking about Ron Potter. They all believed that even if he had a different name he was still their Ron, but he was so different, so they thought it would be best to follow the advice they had been given, it was best if they got to know Ronald Potter and the best way they could start doing that was going to watch his training.

Meanwhile the four Potter siblings had taken refuge in the library, that now held a copy of all the books that had been in it previously, the originals all being in the Potter Manor library.

They knew that they had left rather abruptly, but they had spent ten years away from everyone and it wasn't easy to suddenly be surround by so many people again. They would get used to it eventually, they just needed a little time. With any luck the training the following day would reduce their anxiety and maybe it would make it easier for them to talk to the others. However they also knew that most of them maybe wouldn't accept the choices they had made, but they wouldn't worry about that at the moment, it was something they had been aware since the moment they had opted to take the path they had. So whatever may happen tomorrow they knew one thing for certain, they had no intention of containing themselves.

* * *

The first to arrive the following morning was Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, he didn't care what the other Order members thought, the four Potters may still be at Hogwarts but the aura that they had was at the least unusual, and any idiot would have been able to see that the kids had power, know he only needed to know if they knew how to use that power. That was why he was there at half past five in the morning, looking around he went to the door that Potter had indicated the previous day and went down, while he was there it wouldn't hurt to analyze the training room.

A little over ten minutes later Albus arrived, if he was surprised to see his old friend he didn't show it.

"Alastor, you are here early," Albus remarked in a jovial tone.

"Hmm, I wanted to investigate the training room."

"And did you find anything interesting?" looking at the field that had the size of a Quidditch pitch, the ground was made of dirt and patches of grass, several rocks were visible, some as big as a horse and others were as small as a cat, if it weren't for the fact that he could see the walls around and the ceiling he would have believed that he was outside on a field.

"Well, aside from these wards that we can't cross and being able to feel something similar on the field, I can't find anything else."

"Interesting, do you think..."

The door opened interrupting him. It was precisely five to six and there were the four Potters. They had black tracksuit pants on and t-shirts, Harry's was dark green, Neville's was dark blue, Ron's was dark red and Hermione's dark gray. They could see two wand holsters, one on each arm, but aside from that they didn't appear to have anything else on them.

Not paying them any attention, the four siblings went down to the field, one to every corner of the room, and started doing stretches. They didn't even look up when the door opened and more people started to enter.

When the clock hit six on the stands were Moody, Albus, all the Weasleys aside from Percy, Snape, Augusta Longbottom, Remus, Kingsley and Tonks.

As soon as the clock hit six the four Potters started jogging. The younger wizards soon lost interest, though the more experienced ones started to become intrigued, what surprised them wasn't the fact that the four were running, what surprised them was the fact that in the fifty minutes that they had been running they hadn't changed the speed that they were running in, the distance they had between each other hadn't changed and that, at least, showed that they had great stamina and coordination. At ten to seven the four started to slow down and at seven sharp they stopped completely.

Most thought that the training was only that and were a bit disappointed, though then they remembered that they had said that the real training would only start at ten past eight. A low 'pop' caught their attention.

"Master Harry said to bring breakfast for guests, and to tell guest that they will start training again at ten past eight. Master Harry asked to tell to not try to leave the stands no matter what you see or hear, Master Harry says that it is for your protection."

And with another soft 'pop' it was gone. Severus was, naturally, the first one to grumble about it.

"Who does the brat think he is? Ordering us around..."

"Shut up Snape," growled Moody, "Are you as stupid as you appear to be? Do I have to explain to you what we have just seen? Or are you so blinded by your hate for everything Potter that you don't see what's right in front of you? It's best if you shut up and see what is to come, who knows, you may learn something."

Severus wanted to argue but he knew better than to go against Moody, no matter what anyone said about him, he had seen the paranoid wizard take down some of the most vicious Death Eaters, and he knew that the only reason that Moody tolerated him was because of Dumbledore.

The following hour was spent in silence, they spent most of the time observing the four Potters, they found it astounding that the four could laugh and talk as if they weren't tired at all.

At eight o'clock sharp the breakfast table disappeared and the four went to the middle of the room, where they stopped back to back.

"Whenever you're ready Harry." they heard Neville say, it looked as if there was some sort of charm on the field that let them hear what was said, they could hear Neville as if he was in the stands with them.

"Activate." Harry said in a clear, strong voice and they all saw the smiles on their faces. Light red walls went up, dividing the field in four equal parts, they shone brightly for a second and then became invisible. The wards separated the four siblings, leaving each of them on separate parts of the field.

A few minutes went by without a sound then they heard Hermione's voice.

"First ring."

What followed was something that none of those present would ever forget.

Before Hermione even finished her sentence the four Potters were already moving and on each field appeared a dummy. It looked just like a human being, though it wasn't, it were the training dummies that they had created for their training and the biggest difference between the dummies and a real person was that the dummies couldn't die, an 'Avada Kedavra' would stop them for a few moments, but that was it. The only way for them to stop would be with an order from the person they were attuned to. Though these were an exception, they would only stop at the end of the training, or if their opponent was unconscious or to wounded to continue. Hermione had modified them a little so that they could have all the characteristics that they needed for the siblings to have the training they wanted.

As soon as the opponents appeared they started casting spells, that was something that surprised the ones that were watching, most of the training dummies that existed could only cast a spell that changed colors to symbolize certain spells, and if the person was hit it would leave a spot of the same color as the spell. However they quickly realized that the dummies the Potters were using were casting actual spells. They could do that because of a set of runes that were engraved on the dummies, they would get their magical energy from the ambient magic, making the dummies far more life-like.

Those that were watching believed they would see some stunners and disarming spells, so when the first spell that the dummy that was fighting against Harry cast was a curse to behead someone they paled, they quickly verified that the other three had cast similar spells.

"Merlin," whispered Molly, "What do they think they are doing?" she sounded a little hysteric.

"They are showing us." Bill answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Showing us what?" snarled Severus, he hated not knowing what was going on.

Bill looked at him incredulous and shook his head.

"They are showing us what ' _a_ _bunch of incompetent imbeciles_ ' such as themselves learned." he ended up answering before looking back to the field, observing some of the most fascinating duels he had ever seen.

* * *

Meanwhile Harry was smiling, he didn't know why but his dummy always started with something lethal, well at least he kept things interesting.

He cast a purplish spell that paralyzed a person and the fight started. His opponent counter-attacked with a bone-breaker that he easily sidestepped, conjuring snakes that he launched against him. The dummy set them on fire and created several daggers that he threw at Harry, Harry conjured a wall of ice that blocked the daggers and almost at the same time blew up the wall and transfigured the pieces of ice in long spikes that he sent flying against his attacker, he in turn raised a shield of fire just a second later, melting the ice and from his wand came a whip made of fire, Harry counter-attacked with a whip made of water and when both collided they created a small explosion that shook both of them a little, Harry laughed and continued his attack.

* * *

In the meantime Neville was absorbed in his duel, he had just dodged what appeared to be a crucio and counter-attacked with a spell that made roots come out of the ground and started to hold his adversary in place. He canceled the attack by cutting the roots and quickly sent a black round spell at Neville, recognizing what it was Neville conjured a marble wall and somersaulted backwards, avoiding just in time the explosion that followed, with a smile on his face he cast a curse that would break every bone in a persons body, and was already in position for the next attack.

* * *

Ron on the other hand was conjuring lions to attack is enemy, though that didn't hold him off for long, only seconds later he had canceled the conjuration and had cast multiple curses that caused depression and disorientation in people. Ron dodged them by jumping to the side and creating a shield around him and counter-attacked with a spell that created burning ropes to tie down his opponent. He stopped the attack by creating a wall of water and lost no time in sending several bone-breakers at Ron. Ron quickly raised a shield and send a curse that created lighting against his adversary, he was moving before he even had the chance to see if the curse had hit.

* * *

While that was happening Hermione was entertained with her dummy, with a combination of speed and agility she took advantage of her smaller stature. While her adversary was trying to defend himself from her latest attack she was already preparing a new one, this one the dummy wasn't able to dodge on time so he conjured a dog to take the curse, the conjured animal blew up, making it rain blood, Hermione didn't have the time to think about it, she was busy dodging a curse that caused heart failure, as soon as she was out of harm's way she attacked with renewed vigor, a smile on her lips.

* * *

Meanwhile the people on the stands could only gawk at that demonstration of power, skill and knowledge. Those four sixteen year old teenagers were fighting with a skill that surpassed many aurors, and they were doing it as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Moody and Albus suspected that what they were seeing was only warm-up for them. It was Tonks who voiced what many of them were thinking.

"Merlin! Look at that! I have no doubt that they would be able to kick ass if they went against some Death Eaters, Merlin, even against some aurors."

Most agreed, however, naturally, Snape had to be the voice of discord.

"Death Eaters don't play fair. What good does it do to know a few dozen curses if you are attacked from behind." he said with disdain, he admitted to himself that he wasn't expecting the brats to know all those spells, but to him that was all it was, knowing half a dozen spells, nothing more.

"You really are a bastard Snape," snarled Tonks, "I would like to see if you, when you were their age, had half the skills they have."

"That's enough Tonks," Kingsley intervened, "I hate to agree with Snape but Death Eaters don't play fair. I'm not saying that the kids aren't good, because they are, and anyone who doesn't see that is an idiot, but that isn't enough."

Moody was nodding, agreeing with Kingsley when Neville's voice was heard above the noise, just as smooth and calm as it had been at the beginning, not showing any evidence that he had been for half an hour in an impressive duel.

"Second ring."

And out of nowhere new dummies appeared, one in every field, and with no warning started attacking the siblings.

"Watch out Ron!" Molly shouted suddenly and all the spectators paled when they saw a Cruciatus curse fly in his direction while his back was turned to his new opponent. At the last moment Ron somersaulted backwards, making his first adversary have to dodge the curse that flew under Ron, mid jump Ron cast a ' _Bombarda_ ' at the feet of his second opponent, blowing up the floor and blasting his attacker a few feet away, giving him time to put himself in a new position to attack. The two dummies recuperated quickly and assumed combat stances and prepared themselves for the next round.

In the stands they heard Ron laugh and continue the fight.

"He was almost hit with a Cruciatus curse and he laughs?" Ginny muttered incredulously.

"And it isn't only him," Remus remarked, "Look at the others, they seem to be having the time of their life."

It was true, they had all smiles on their faces. It wasn't a happy smile, it was more an expression of excitement, as if they were facing a challenge and it was a great pleasure for them to do it.

"It may be the adrenaline," Moody commented, "I have no doubt that the ' _training_ ' they are having is deadly. They must have some safety measures in place, that prevents them from dying, but I doubt that they remember that when they are fighting. Besides I have no doubt that they enjoy fighting. It may have started with the need to survive or to protect themselves but it evolved. Nobody is able to fight like that if they don't like it."

"And what do you think Alastor?" inquired Albus, not taking his eyes of the training field.

"I think... I think that we haven't seen everything they have to show us. I think that by the end of this training we will be thanking Merlin that they aren't against us and I also think that by the end of it they will have made it clear that they aren't with us either."

"Aren't with us? What do you mean Alastor?"

"Don't pass yourself of as a fool Albus," grunted Moody, "I'm sure you saw the same thing as I did. They were simple curses, they could pass as light magic, but they were dark magic," the others looked at them shocked, "I have no doubt about what I saw. And look, now they are using a little more. I wonder if they have more of these rings, it would be interesting to see what else they know. Either way I'm certain they would never join Voldemort. Even if it's only because they want revenge, I know they would never be Death Eaters. Though I'm also certain that they won't follow you Albus. If I'm not mistaken there is a new side in this war, now we just have to see who the rest of the population will follow? The Dark that wants to cover everything in darkness? The Light that wants to blind them with their brightness? Or this new side that is rising, that is neither light nor dark?"

"What a ridiculous notion. Who would follow a teenager to war?" sneered Snape.

However it wasn't Moody that answered. In unison, with their eyes fixed on Harry, shinning with admiration, pride, affection and love Fred and George replied.

"Me!"

Moody shook his head and looked at Snape.

"Potter is offering them something that nobody else is. Tolerance. Light. Dark. It's obvious that he doesn't care. To them it's magic, and only that matters to them. Listen to what I tell you, Potter created a new front and when this war breaks out we will not want to alienate him."

"And what if we bring down one Dark Lord only to have another one rise?" Albus asked calmly, ignoring the incredulous expressions of the others.

"In that case, my old friend, we have two choices, continue a war against the hero that saved us from Voldemort or let him change things, let him raise to power, hopping for the best. Though the question you have to ask is: do you think that Potter wants to follow that path? Do you think he wants followers? Do you think he wants to lead?"

Albus didn't answer, he continued to look at the battles unfolding on the training fields.

* * *

Harry had just raised a shield when he felt a spell coming in his direction from his left side, not having time to see what spell it was he jumped backwards so that he could avoid it. No matter how strong the training dummy was, the first ring was nothing more than a warm up. It hadn't always been like that, but in the last few years only when the second ring started did he consider the beginning of the training and he knew that the others felt the same. With a quick ' _Lacero_ ' the first dummy went down, and he positioned himself so that his back was against the wards and his two opponents in front of him, he was ready for more.

* * *

Meanwhile Hermione was taking advantage of the fact that both of her opponents were temporarily incapacitated, one of them was stunned while the other had a deadly wound on his neck, to heal a wound she had on her arm caused by the second dummy. The cut wasn't to deep, but if it continued to bleed it could cause complications with the loss of blood. She finished just in time to raise a shield that prevented her from having her organs on the outside.

* * *

Neville had just electrocuted one of his opponents when a _diffindo_ grazed him, cutting his left arm. Conjuring wolfs to attack his adversaries as a distraction, he created a barrier, made out of earth, around himself so that he could heal his injury. Something they had all quickly learned was that several small injuries could be as dangerous as a big one.

* * *

As soon as they heard Harry's calm voice say ' _Lacero_ ', they could feel the mood in the stands change. It was one thing to hear Moody say that the four of them were using simple dark curses, it was a completely different thing to hear Harry cast a dark arts curse and hear the screams of his opponent, even if they knew it wasn't a real person, the agonizing screams made it easy to forget. None of them thought that Harry would ever cast that curse, it was after all a relative of the Cruciatus, a torture curse.

Now, that they took a closer look, they noticed that the four siblings weren't attacking to incapacitated or stun their opponents, they were aiming to kill.

"They are efficient," Moody remarked, ignoring the somber mood, "They don't only attack, they can also use healing magic, simple but effective spells that will not jeopardize their efficiency during combat."

Most just looked at him incredulously.

"That's all you have to say?" Kingsley asked, he knew the old auror rather well and knew that he hated anything related to dark magic, so it was no surprise that his reaction left him rather perplexed.

"And what do you want me to say? Just like Bill said, the brats are showing us what they can do."

"Yes, but the ' _Lacero_ '... it's practically an Unforgivable..."

"Kingsley, it wouldn't surprise me if before this... training... is over we will see them use the Unforgivable curses as well."

The shocked expressions they had were almost comical, Alastor had to contain the laugh that wanted to escape. He was certain that he wasn't the only one that understood why they were allowed to watch this ' _training_ '. As a matter of fact he was certain that they all understood it, some just didn't want to believe what was right in front of their eyes. The reason while they had been invited to watch the training was to transmit a simple message: _do not try to control us, do not try to stop us, we will do things our way_.

It was clear as day, and he was certain that he had been right before, a new side was rising, a side that if turned against the Order would destroy them, and something that truly scared him, though he would never admit it, was the feeling he had that they hadn't seen everything yet, that and the smiles that still hadn't left their faces.

"The Unforgivable curses...?" Tonks' whisper brought him back to the present.

"I may be wrong... Who knows, those are difficult curses, and they are young. Besides, they have been fighting for about two hours, they must be at their limit."

Those that knew him knew that he didn't believe a word of what he had said.

Ending the conversation they continued watching the battles, two hours had passed, but none of the Potters appeared to be at their limit, though they could all see their clothing was torn, and they had blood all over them, and the smell of burning flesh was making the younger ones a bit green, but it didn't look like it affected the Potters.

"Third ring." Ron's voice was heard on the stands and more than one gasped when they saw a third dummy appear and attack the teenagers. They didn't know why but hearing the other three laugh did nothing to calm their nerves.

"Merlin!" exclaimed Charlie losing all the color he had on his face, the others soon saw why.

Out of nowhere a katana had appeared in Harry's right hand, with his wand in his left hand he created a rain of fire above the first two opponents, then he quickly created a shield around himself, not losing any time he attack the third adversary, not even giving him time to react, and in a clean and fluid move his katana went through his opponents neck, decapitating him before he even knew what was happening. The blood and the soft 'thud' that the head made when it hit the ground made the spectators, momentarily, forget that they were only dummies. Harry on the other hand didn't even pay attention to the blood that drenched him, nor to the noise that the body made when it fell, and in the same move that had decapitated his adversary, he lifted his katana and blocked a curse while he attacked with magic.

It was a bloody and incredibly brutal spectacle but they were all mesmerized. All of them, even Snape though he wanted to deny it, couldn't help the shiver that went down their spine. They had all faced Death Eaters, aside from the youngest Weasleys, not counting Ginny's encounter with them in the Ministry the previous year, a few had even been face to face with Voldemort, but nothing had made them shiver like the scene they had just seen, it wasn't even the blood, that look and smelt far too real, it wasn't even the decapitation, what had made them shiver was Harry's look when that katana came in to contact with the dummy's neck. They hadn't expected to see those eyes shine with excitement, full of life and determination, nor were they expecting to see the sadness that haunted them, nor the understanding that consumed them. But there was all of that and more.

Moody shook his head, if he had any doubts before they had been crushed. And Snape wondered who would follow the kid? With those eyes who wouldn't follow him? The life, determination and excitement in them, the promises they contained where all he needed to capture anyone. And the sadness and understanding that lurked in the shadows were enough to hold them. Though if he couldn't lead then all of it would be for nothing, but he didn't believe that he couldn't lead, he had after all managed to gain the loyalty of the former Weasley, Longbottom and Granger. Again he thanked Merlin that they were on the same side as the young Potter, looking around he saw that he wasn't the only one thinking that, however he saw other looks as well and he couldn't help but wonder how many of those present would leave the Order to join the young Potter Lord.

* * *

As soon as the third dummy appeared in front of him he lost no time attacking it. Just as they had agreed the previous night, they would not hold back on this training, the people needed to know what they would be up against if they tried to stop them and they had to see what they would have to do if they decided to follow Harry. Ron had no doubt that many would follow him, he just thought that they didn't know what they would lose if they did.

The curse he cast didn't miss his target and the dummy's chest exploded creating a downpour of blood and bits of bones, without losing any time observing the destruction he had caused he summoned his sword, it appeared in his left hand and he quickly intercepted the move his opponent had started, making the clash of metal against metal echo through the field. With a small laugh he continued his attack.

* * *

Neville was surrounded. His adversaries, taking advantage of a moment of distraction on Neville's part, when he was immersed in a duel with only one of them, quickly surrounded him, blocking any and all opportunities for him to position himself better so that he could take on three opponents simultaneously.

Sighing he went with the only choice he had, brute strength. He started a chant that bathed him in a soft red light, the light became brighter and it compressed around him. Before his opponents had the opportunity to attack he finished the chant, and the light around him expanded at an incredibly speed. It had the strength of a small hydrogen bomb, according to Hermione, he had no idea what hydrogen even was, but he couldn't deny that it was effective. His field was nothing more than a crater and his opponents had been obliterated. Fortunately the wards were strong enough to hold the blast, otherwise, again according to Hermione, it would have blown up London, though she said it did depend on the amount of power that they would channel to the spell. It was a tiring spell, but the dummies would take a bit to grow back together and that gave him the time he needed to recuperate.

* * *

Hermione was in the middle of a jump when the third dummy attacked, not being able to dodge she raised the most powerful shield she knew, hoping that it would be enough. The strength of the impact of the curse against the shield made her fly against the wall, she hit her head and was slightly dizzy but aside from that she didn't feel any other injuries, at least now she was in a good position to attack. She cast three stunners in rapid succession and just as she expected instead of dodging the dummies raised a shield. Hermione wasn't able to contain the malicious smile.

They were so focused on the stupefy that they didn't even notice the daggers that she had thrown with the spells and that particular shield was absolutely no use against solid objects. At the same time that the stupefy hit the shields and were reflected, the daggers passed right through and before they knew it, they were on the floor, 'dead' with a dagger through their hearts. Hermione just ripped the daggers out and waited for the damage to be repaired, giving her a few minutes to rest.

* * *

"Is it just me or are the duels becoming more brutal?" inquired Remus trying to keep a calm tone of voice, those who knew him knew that he was trying to process everything they were seeing.

Bill and Charlie only nodded. After seeing Harry decapitate his opponent they had thought that nothing would surprise them. They were wrong, seeing their youngest brother laugh with the blood of his adversaries running down his face left them gaping, seeing the ease with which Neville wiped out three opponents at the same time was mind blowing, but when they saw Hermione, little Hermione the shy bookworm, deal with the death of her adversaries in such a cold and emotionless way made them realize what they were seeing, and what the message was that the four of them were trying to transmit; _follow us if you want but the path we chose is bathed in blood and covered with bodies_.

Bill and Charlie couldn't help but wonder if they would be able to walk that path without losing themselves.

"Now it began." Moody remarked not taking his eyes of the field.

"I'm inclined to agree with you my friend, though, truthfully, I don't know if that's something positive or negative." Dumbledore commented, for the first time in many years the old wizard didn't know what to think.

"What began?" asked Tonks, she was a bit pale though they could see an excited light in her eyes. Both Moody and Albus were certain that if they gave her the opportunity she would follow Harry into battle.

"Their training." Albus clarified with a small smile, he may not know what to think, he may not agree with their choices, but even he had to admit that the level of skill and magic that they were seeing was brilliant and that the idea of seeing more was exciting.

"But... but they've been there for over three hours!" Ginny exclaimed looking a bit confused, some nodding, agreeing with her.

Snape looked at Moody and Albus and paled, they couldn't be suggesting what he thought they were suggesting. It simply wasn't possible. He couldn't believe, no, he didn't want to believe in that possibility, because if it was true... if it was true may the gods have mercy on the poor souls that went against the four Potters.

"I think that until now the four of them were only warming up," Moody continued, "You could almost say they were ' _playing_ '. Considering what we saw now, they could have killed the first dummy quite easily. I think that the first ring was only warm up, the second ring was when they started to enjoy it, the third one appears to he the real training. If there is a fourth ring, which I think there is, that one most be to test their limits, or something like that."

"Well, they did say they would be showing us what they had learned." muttered Kingsley after several moments of silence.

They all agreed, the battles they were seeing were brutal, but they were seeing magic that they didn't even know existed, and those that did know what it was were amazed that the teens were able to cast it. They were almost there for five hours and none of the Potters showed any sign of stopping. They had injuries, and were covered in blood but they didn't seem to mind. There was blood and bits of bones spread throughout the fields but they didn't even look at it, they were only thinking about the battle. There were small pauses here and there, when they were able to kill all of the dummies simultaneously, but aside from that they were in constant movement. They knew that they were witnessing amazing battles.

"Fourth ring." Harry's voice was heard above the noise of the battles and the hour that followed was as terrifying as it was fascinating and the younger ones couldn't help look at the Potters in awe while the older ones thanked Merlin that they weren't on Voldemort's side.

* * *

Hermione knew that their training was almost over, they had maybe another thirty minutes left, and the dummies were already in a very advanced level. A characteristic that they had added to their dummies was that every time they died they would go up a level of skill and power. It was a way to keep them focused and to help improve their skills as well. Hermione wasn't at her limit yet, but it was becoming more difficult, and it was time to destroy the four dummies and end the training.

With just a thought she had her dementor wand on her left hand and it was possible to feel the temperature in the room drop. She loved her first wand, but there was no denying that this one channeled her power better. With a small flick of her wrist a fire whip surged from her wand and with astounding speed wrapped itself around her opponents neck, burning and chocking him at the same time. While she was doing that, her other wand never stopped casting spells, and they were getting deadlier by the second, making the other three go in to a defensive stance.

When she was certain that the dummy that she had been strangling was dead, Hermione canceled he fire whip and conjured two huge fire serpents, they were both over fifteen feet, and with a simple order they attacked two of the three dummies left.

Now there was only one left. It was the one that had the highest level, but she didn't mind, it gave her a challenge before the end. Her adversary lost no time in attacking her and she had to quickly dodge a crucio that he cast at her, without a second thought she counter attacked and taking advantage of the two wands, she first shot a bone-breaker and even before the curse had completely left her wand she cast a curse that made someones blood boil with the other wand, they were both of a similar yellowish color, the bone-breaker being just a bit darker, they were difficult to tell apart and many times were confused with each other, the beauty about it was that the shield that could stop one, wasn't able to stop the other.

Hermione wasn't able to stop her smile when her opponent went down, agonizing screams leaving his mouth, indicating that the blood boiling curse had hit.

The smell of burned flesh showed that her serpents had taken care of the other two.

When she was preparing herself to end her last dummy's suffering, he disappeared, the other following it only seconds later.

"End of training." she whispered going to the corner in the center of the field where she had started the training.

* * *

Neville took a deep breath containing a scream of pain. Having miscalculated the speed of the curse, it grazed him and he knew he had broken two ribs, but now wasn't the time to take care of it.

With a long sigh he called his second wand. He raised a shield around himself and started to strengthen it, and used the second wand to crave runes on the ground in front of him. After a few minutes he had finished, and it was just on time too, he could feel the shield starting to break, chanting the final part of the ritual the runes on the ground started to come to life.

They started forming a portal, and taking advantage of the distraction of his opponents he moved as far away from the portal as he could, as quickly as possible. Meanwhile the portal had opened completely and a putrefying hand appeared, followed by a deformed humanoid body. It's arms were far to long, the tips of it's fingers reached it's knees, it had a skeletal torso and it's skin had a greyish color. It's head didn't seem to fit, it was big and the skull appeared to be a bit to elongated. It also had a far to large mouth, with no lips, however the corners of it's mouth were upturned, in a grotesque imitation of a smile. It didn't have much hair, but the hair that it did have was long and black, full of knots and dirt and it was matted together by what appeared to be decades of filth. It's eyes were completely black, a deep black abyss that would make even the bravest of men cower. However the worst, the worst thing about it was their mouth. When that grotesque imitation of a smile opened they could see the rotten and sharp teeth it contained and saliva dripping down it's chin. All in all it was horrendous and straight out of someone's nightmare.

However it wasn't the only one that came out of the portal, and in only a few minutes dozen others had joined the first. The dummies had no other choice but to attack, but even when they were able to blow parts of their bodies apart, the creatures just continued on.

The dummies didn't stand a chance.

They were devoured by the creatures, their agonizing screams filling the air and the ground became soaked in blood. When the screams ceased Neville quickly closed the portal, sending the creatures back to where they had come from, he finished just in time to see some fingers and a foot disappear from the field, signaling the end of the training. With a tired sigh he went to the corner of the field where the training had started.

* * *

Ron felt his arm burn again, he hadn't had the opportunity to heal the burn that he had suffered and the spell he had used was starting to lose it's effect. He had to take care of the dummies rather quickly. Taking his second wand out he immediately started to cast. In his opinion the only flaw that the spell had was that it was a bit long, that was the reason he hadn't stop casting other spells, he was raising shields and sending counter curses with his first wand, however he was starting to tire and from what he had seen at least two of the dummies were at the same level he was at, and considering that there were four of them it gave him quite the challenge and he was sure that if the training didn't end soon he would lose, but that only made him more determined to finish it. Besides he wanted to see if he could at least have a few minutes to look at the burn on his arm.

After a minute or two he was finished and he took a moment to observe his work. Several roots were raising from the ground, and surrounding his opponents, they were wrapping around their legs, their arms and their necks, they lifted the dummies more than 10 ft of the ground, then, suddenly, they pulled.

The nauseating sound of flesh and bone ripping apart was heard throughout the room. The dummies didn't even have the opportunity to scream, just moments later the dummies torsos hit the ground with a loud thud, they fell in a circle around Ron peppering him with blood. He didn't pay them any attention, he simply cleaned the blood of his burned arm and started to heal the burn. When he finished the bodies disappeared and he started walking to the starting corner with a smile on his lips, in his opinion the training had gone rather well.

* * *

Harry knew that the training was almost at an end, after five years with the same schedule it was almost like an internal clock. With a backwards somersault he dodge a curse that removed his internal organs, he cursed, the dummies were getting more aggressive and one of them was at his level. When he landed he almost lost his balance, he had a long cut in his leg that he hadn't had the opportunity to heal, it was rather deep and he didn't want to risk doing an atrocious job healing it.

Taking a deep breath to even out his breathing he called his second wand and lost no time in casting the curse, with just a little change at the end, mere seconds later a shock-wave hit the dummies, it shook them a bit, but aside from that it didn't appear to have caused any damages.

Harry, however, just raised the strongest shield he knew and dodged the curses that couldn't be blocked and waited.

After a little more than a minute he heard the first scream and smiled. His opponents had been dead for more than a minute, they just hadn't know it yet. Lowering his shield, Harry looked at them. They were on the ground, screaming, scratching themselves bloody, and Harry could see wounds opening up all over their bodies. It continued that way for a little while till he saw little black things starting to come out of the wounds, they came also out through the nose, the mouth and even through the ears. If you payed really close attention it was possible to see that it were thousands of small spiders coming out of the bodies, eating everything that appeared in front of them.

The dummies screamed for a few more minutes while Harry watched with detached fascination and a cold look in his eyes. Finally the pain and wounds were to much to take and the dummies died, only seconds later their bodies disappeared.

"It's over." Harry whispered, joining his siblings in the middle of the room.

* * *

The spectators were astonished, some were even extremely pale, while Ginny even looked as if she would be sick. What most of them were wondering was _how_? How were they able to do something like that? How could they behave so cruelly and as if they hadn't done anything out of the ordinary? How could they do it?

"At least they didn't use the Unforgivable curses." Tonks whispered, though her voice was strange, it was as if she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"I don't know if it wouldn't have been better if they had used them." Snape remarked rather distractedly, his head still on the fights, even the spy was a bit pale.

However his remarked made several of them look at him incredulously, after all who wants to see children casting Unforgivables around.

"Don't look at me like that!" he snarled when he saw the looks, "I can't be the only one who saw what happened on those fields! I can't be the only one who heard those screams! By Merlin, the most merciful death was the one the Weasley's opponents suffered, and they were ripped apart!

I can't be the only one that believes that a quick ' _Avada Kedavra_ ' would have been far more merciful than being eaten alive by those... those... those things!"

Severus was doing his best to keep calm, but it was quite difficult. What the hell had they just seen? Severus Snape wasn't a nice man, years serving as a spy against the Dark Lord had made him cynical, cold and distant. He almost didn't notice the screams of the victims tortured with the Cruciatus anymore, but what he had seen on those fields had shook him.

Those four students had managed to scare him in a way that the Dark Lord never could. The Dark Lord was a monster, it was as simple as that, so when he saw him killing and torturing it was not something unusual, after all that was what monsters did. But those four, those four weren't monsters. Those four were his students. And what scared him wasn't the power they apparently had, what scared him was the lack of emotion when they heard those screams, what scared him was the indifference they showed when faced with those cruel deaths. Severus was sure that even most of the Death Eaters would have paled if they had seen what he had.

Looking at the fields again he saw that the four Potters were in their initial positions, with their backs turned to each other.

"Deactivate."

As soon as Harry finished speaking the wards fell, and they saw the boys taking of their shirts, while Hermione took hers of as well, leaving her with a top that cover little more than her breasts.

"What are they doing?" Mrs. Weasley asked, still looking rather pale.

"They are healing themselves," Moody answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "It's impossible to be in a fight like the one they were in and not even have a scratch. However from what I've seen they don't have any serious injury. It's rather impressive."

"Do you still think what you thought at the beginning of the training Alastor?" Albus inquired without his usual twinkle in his blue eyes.

"That Potter created a new side? Yes, I have no doubt about it. You saw the same thing I did, out of all of us, I think that you would be the only one that would be able to take them on and win, nobody in the Order has reached that level. However considering what we saw I doubt that they would follow in your footsteps, or your rules. Do you still think that Potter is another Voldemort?"

"Another Voldemort? I don't think so, I believe that Harry could be something far worse than Voldemort."

Dumbledore ignored the looks sent his way, not taking his eyes from the four siblings that were sitting on the ground laughing and healing each others wounds. What Albus feared was that Harry would succeed where all the others Dark Lords had failed, because Harry had something that none of the others had, Harry wasn't alone. And he wasn't talking about followers, he was talking about people that truly loved him, were loyal to him not out of fear, or lust for power, but because of love, and love always had been and always would be the most powerful thing in the world.

A table with eighteen sitting places appeared on the field, that looked like a beautiful grass field, there was no sign that only minutes before a deadly fight had taken place there, even the smell of blood and fire was gone, it was full of food and they heard Ron scream ' _Food!_ ' and the others laugh, apparently some things never change. Harry looked in their direction and with a simple snap of his fingers the wards that stopped them from going into the field disappeared.

"You are free to have lunch with us, if you want."

The first one to get up was Moody, he may not like Dark Magic but he couldn't help but respect the Potters. The Weasleys lost no time in following him and quickly joined the four siblings by the table. The others followed at a more sedated pace.

It was clear that they all had questions, but apparently they didn't know where to start. Remus was the one that ended up breaking the silence.

"That were some impressive... duels."

Ron just smiled at him, then immediately returned to his food. Harry smiled.

"Thank you Remus. We had to change our schedule a bit, but I think that it was profitable."

"Change your schedule?" Mr. Weasley asked curiously.

"Yes, usually we have Weapon's training on Wednesdays," Neville answered calmly, "But considering that there was a possibility that someone would be coming to see the training we thought that dueling was the best option to show what we have learned..."

Neville was about to say something more but Dumbledore interrupted him, and as soon as he had asked his question the Potters sighed. They knew that those questions would be coming, they knew that Dumbledore would oppose them, and they also knew that they couldn't delay the confrontation forever, and now they had no way of escaping it.

"And do you think it's wise to learn certain types of magics?"

"And what type of magic do you think isn't wise for us to learn Professor?" Harry asked calmly, he may know perfectly well to what Dumbledore was referring, but he wanted to hear the logic behind the argument.

"You know perfectly well of what type of magic I'm speaking about my boy. Dark Magic! Do you think that is the right way? You could end up hurting someone, you could even kill someone. Dark magic is extremely dangerous."

Potters weren't able to hold back their laughter. That was their argument? Really?

"I don't see what's so funny!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, she was nervous and the situation wasn't helping one bit.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley," Neville said, "But we couldn't help it. Really. Your biggest argument against learning dark magic is that it's dangerous? That we could end up hurting or killing someone? Do you really believe that? Do you really think that dark magic is the only branch of magic capable of killing?"

"Well, dark magic... it has all those violent curses and..."

"Ginny, without even having to think about it I can tell you three spells that are taught in school, in class, that are deadly and extremely violent."

The rest of those sitting at the table, aside from the other Potters, were looking at Ron incredulous. They didn't teach those things at Hogwarts, how could he even suggest such a thing.

"Oh? And what are those evil spells?" Snape asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Wingardium Leviosa, Reducto, Accio." Ron answered calmly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, completely ignoring the incredulous looks the adults were giving him.

"Oh, right, how could I have forgotten such evil and dangerous spells!" Snape exclaimed, his voice filled with disdain and sarcasm, "I would like to see what evil things you could do with those spells."

Hermione shook her head and answered.

"Well, with Wingardium Leviosa we could levitate a person and let them fall to their deaths."

The ones that were smiling, thinking that the idea of those spells as dangerous and evil was amusing, quickly lost that smile.

"Reducto could blow someone's head of, if you want instant death. If you're more into torture the you could blow a finger of or several fingers, or a leg... Well, there are actually quite a number of possibilities." Neville remarked looking rather distracted.

"And there are also several possibilities with the Accio spell, summoning someone's heart, an eye, a bone, a nail... Well, as I said, several possibilities." Harry said.

"Hell, if you are creative enough you could kill or torture someone with a quill, but you don't deem them to dangerous, do you?" Ron concluded.

Now they were all a bit pale. Honestly, none of them had ever seen it like that, it was a rather interesting perspective, if a bit morbid.

"But surely you don't want to kill anyone." Dumbledore insisted.

Now it was the Potters turn to look at Dumbledore incredulous.

"Headmaster, don't take this the wrong way, but you do know that we are at war, right?" Ron asked in a smooth and calm voice, as if he was speaking to a frightened child.

"Of course the Headmaster is perfectly aware that we are at war!" Snape snarled, "You were still in diapers when the Headmaster lead the first war against the Dark Lord! Show some respect!"

"Ah, that's good then, it leaves me more at ease," Ron said, not looking bothered by what Snape had said, "For a few moments I thought that little detail had gone unnoticed."

And he went back to his lunch, leaving most of those sitting at the table looking at him perplexed.

"What do you mean by that Weasley?" Snape asked, the little patience he had coming to an end.

"My name is Potter, you better remember it Snape. And I believe it's obvious what I meant. It's war, people die."

Ron said it with such a calm and matter of fact tone that most looked at him stunned, that more than answered the Headmaster's question, but Dumbledore persisted.

"But surely it isn't necessary. Everyone deserves a second chance."

"Headmaster why do they deserve something they don't give their victims?"

Aside from his siblings none of them had ever heard Harry's voice being that cold, and they couldn't help the shiver that went down their spines. However, most of them, specially the younger ones, couldn't get that question out of their minds, no matter how hard they tried they weren't able to find a good enough answer.

"And that's a reason to kill them?" Albus asked, in an unusual serious voice, "Is it a reason to go down to their level? And who made you jury, judge, and executioner? If you do that you would be nothing more than a killer, just like the Death Eaters you so obviously despise."

Harry's siblings' reaction was so fast that most didn't truly understand what happened, what most saw was that one moment they were sitting and the next they were standing, looking at the Headmaster with such cold eyes, lacking any and all emotion that it made their blood freeze. Only a handful of those present saw the wands appear in their hands, only those saw the subtle shack of Harry's head and the wands vanished again, and those that saw it were certain that Harry's siblings had been moments away from cursing the Headmaster.

Slowly Harry got up from his seat, he didn't appear to be the least bit affected by what the Headmaster had said but something in his posture was different and his aura projected a sense of danger. Instinctively they all knew that the Harry Potter in front of them wasn't someone they wanted to anger.

"I would have thought a wise person like yourself would know the difference Headmaster. They kill for pleasure. We do it to protect those we love. We do it for our right to live. I will not spend my life hiding under a rock. I will not let my life be dictated by a band of psychopaths. I refuse to limit myself to surviving. For that reason I fight, for that I kill, for my right to live.

They declared war on our world. They want to kill us, but worse than that they want to destroy our dreams, they want to take our independence, our individuality, they want to destroy everything that makes us _us_ , they want to break us.

Voldemort and his Death Eaters sow fear in the hearts of people, they commit atrocious crimes and walk freely on the streets, without fear, without suffering the consequences and when one of them is captured he his set free a little while later, either because they bride their way out or because Voldemort frees them, getting back to their cozy little lives, certain in their believe that they are untouchable, that they didn't commit any crime, while in their wake they leave families ripped apart, destroyed dreams and lost hope.

It is time they suffer the consequences, it is time that someone takes this war to them, it is time that they feel the fear that haunts the people they torment.

I am no jury or judge and much less an executioner.

I am just a person that is fighting for my right to live, for my right to be free. I am just a person that is fighting in a war that my forefathers started, that makes me a soldier, not a killer.

But even if I were a killer I would never be on their level for a rather simple reason, they kill for pleasure, I do it because it is the right thing to do, it isn't revenge, as some may think, it's justice."

Without looking at anyone Harry left, with one last glare at Dumbledore his siblings followed, leaving the people at the table in stunned silence.

* * *

Several minutes went by till someone finally spoke, they were all thinking about Harry's speech.

Moody was certain that Harry truly believed what he had said, and deep down he couldn't help but agree. Maybe if they had that attitude in the first war they wouldn't be in the situation they were. He respected Albus a great deal but he couldn't deny that he always thought that Albus didn't have the coldness needed to lead a war that bloody. Giving second chances was all well and good in theory, but in reality not everyone deserved them. Maybe the Potters would be the solution to win the war.

Bill was immersed in his thoughts. Harry didn't stop surprising him. Since his youngest brother had gone to Hogwarts that he only heard about Harry Potter when he went home. He heard about his brothers adventures and more than once he asked himself if Ron wasn't exaggerating, but when his father confirmed that the stories were true Bill had to admit that he was impressed.

In reality, after having heard so much about Harry Potter, he didn't really know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the thin boy, that was about 16 inches shorter than he. But even in that first encounter, he would be lying if he said that Harry Potter hadn't caused a strong impression. It quickly became normal to find himself thinking about green eyes that captured his complete attention, it was as if those eyes demanded his undivided attention. And it wasn't an isolated situation either, every time he was with Harry he was captivated by those eyes and he wasn't able to do anything to stop it.

Even during the time that he had gone out with Fleur, before she had gone back to France, it was about brilliant green eyes that he thought about. He clearly remembered going shopping with Fleur and they had passed a jewelry store and he had seen a ring with a stone that was exactly the same shade as Harry's eyes and he had just stopped and stared. When Fleur had asked him if something was wrong he had said that the stone reminded him of Harry's eyes, she had smiled, now that he thought about it he remembered that the smile was kind of sad, she had shook her head and said that she would be going back to France because of the war, so she could be with her family. After that she said that she hoped that he would realize it before it was to late, that he wasn't the only one that was captivated by green eyes, that had been about three weeks ago and the truth was that Bill had no idea what she meant. However when Harry disappeared he started to understand. Not that he wasn't worried about his brother, but thinking that he would never see those green eyes again was almost physically painful. And when the four appeared again and he saw those eyes he almost lost his breath. If they had been captivating before, now they were absolutely mesmerizing.

When Hermione said that her name was Potter he felt his heart stop. At the time he hadn't been sure, but now he was able to identify the emotion he had felt, while all the others had been shocked when they thought that Harry and Hermione had married, Bill was dying of jealousy.

And even though it had been startling to discover what the four had done, the most pronounced feeling he had felt had been relief.

And today, during that training, if it could be called training, Bill had been fascinated, he knew it was dark magic, he knew it had been brutal but he didn't care, what he had seen had been brilliant, fascinating, and every time he felt Harry's magic it was addictive.

And if all of that wasn't enough, Harry had given a speech and when he finished he was sure that Harry was a born leader, a leader that he would follow with all his heart, however just as fast as that revelation came another followed.

He wanted more than to follow Harry, he wanted to know him. He wanted to now what he thought, he wanted to see what was behind those eyes. In all honesty, though he had no idea how it had happened, Bill admitted to himself, that deep down, what he wanted was Harry.

Bill was brought out of his thoughts by Moody.

"I think it became quite clear that the four will not be following your methods Albus."

"I don't now why but I can't see that as something bad." Remus interrupted him.

And apparently he wasn't the only one thinking like that, Moody saw the younger Weasleys, Tonks and Kingsley nodding, agreeing with the werewolf. A small speech, a demonstration of power and he already had people willing to follow him, it was rather impressive.

"You haven't said anything yet Severus, what do you think?" Albus asked, his voice grave. Now that they looked at him, they could see that Snape was a little more pale than usual and he had a somewhat fearful expression.

"I... Headmaster, if this Harry Potter wants to create an army the people will follow him. When he was dueling, and just now, when he was talking, the person he reminded me of was the Dark Lord, when he was younger. I am certain that you also noticed it Headmaster."

Shocking those present Dumbledore agreed.

"You are right, Harry reminded me of Tom, before he became so immersed in his Voldemort persona that he ended up losing himself in it. But, if we look back, we can see that they have always been somewhat similar, I suppose it was destiny. But even so, at least during this war, we are on the same side."

"What do you mean, ' _at least during this war_ '?" asked Bill in a grave tone, he didn't like what Dumbledore was insinuating, and he really didn't now if he wanted to be part of a group that was already thinking about betraying future allies.

"Bill, I mean that I am certain that they will not join Voldemort, but after this war is over, I don't know what they will do. As Severus said, if Harry wants to gather... followers... I have no doubt that he will be able to do it and I doubt that we will be able to stop him if he wishes to change things by force."

"Just because he doesn't agree with your policies, you want to make him the next Dark Lord, is that it?" Bill exclaimed, he hated the way they were talking about Harry.

"That isn't what I said."

"No, it wasn't, but it is what you meant. The Light is just as prejudiced as the Dark, the only thing that changes is the perspective. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see my brother, he may have another name, but he is still my brother. Are you coming?" he asked the other Weasleys.

Not even thinking about it, the other Weasleys got up and followed him.

"Wait, I'll go too." exclaimed Remus, hurrying after the red-heads, leaving several people behind wishing they could follow.

* * *

They found the four siblings sitting in the library, surrounded by books, some were obviously about dark magic, but after what they had seen they decided not to comment. Harry was the first to notice them, only a second or so before the others and Bill could clearly see the guarded look in their eyes. He hated that those eyes were looking at him like that. They walked towards the table they were sitting at and stayed there, not really knowing what to say.

"You may sit." Ron told them with a small smile and the table where they were sitting grew larger and several more chairs appeared.

"I imagine that you want to talk." Ron encouraged them, and just like in many other situations it were the twins that broke the tension.

"You are" Fred started.

"Brilliant! We never saw" George continued.

"Anything like it. It was awesome!" they finished together, with huge smiles.

Ron and Harry laughed, they had missed the twins terribly during their ten years of isolation.

"Thank you for the compliment," Harry thanked them with a smile, happy that at least the twins were still the same with them, "Coming from you, it's better than receiving an Order of Merlin First Class."

The other Potters started to laugh when they saw the twins' face, it was good to see that some things never changed.

"I believe that those that saw you train will agree with Fred and George," Mr. Weasley told them, "Though, if I may, I would like to ask you a question, specially you Ron."

"Of course, Mr. Weasley, you can ask whatever you want." answered Harry, his voice smooth and warmer than the one he had used in front of the Order, his eyes were warmer too.

"Well I would like to know how and when all of this began. Why did you do it? You are so young, why do you think you have to fight in a war? And Ron, if you didn't feel that you belonged with the family, why didn't you talk about it with us? Your mother and I always loved you, we would never do anything to hurt you."

When Mr. Weasley finished he looked at the four expectantly, those were questions that they were all asking themselves, it was important for them to know the answer, they hoped that it would at least help them understand. Bill saw the four Potters exchange a look, and Ron let out a long sigh before he started speaking.

"I don't really know where to start, but I will try to answer to the best of my abilities. I never doubted that my family loved me, but it isn't easy being the youngest of five brothers. It didn't really matter what I did, one of them had already done it, and when I was younger that made me feel really insecure. But then I went to Hogwarts, and even though I felt I was in my brothers' shadow, I made friends, and in that first year I did something that none of my brothers had ever done, I had helped my best friend in going against Voldemort. However when I saw Harry in the infirmary, lying in that bed, so still and pale that he looked dead, the fact that I had done something that my brothers hadn't didn't even cross my mind. What was important to me was that Harry had needed me and that I had been there, at his side, helping in the best way that I could, and nothing had ever felt so right as to stand beside Harry. I knew that my place was at his side, I was sure of it. But then came fourth year, I was an idiot, I betrayed a person that was more than my brother, and all of it because my insecurities had reached a point that I couldn't deal with. I regretted it almost immediately, but I was far to proud to say that I was sorry. Though fortunately I wizened up and apologized to my brother, and I was lucky enough that he accepted me back without thinking twice about it. And I swore to myself that I would never again turn my back on Harry, that I would never betray his trust again, and that I would always do everything I could to help him in his battles.

However only a few months after that he had to fight for his live, and I wasn't there, I wasn't able to do anything.

The following year, though that bitch did everything she could to stop us, Harry taught us, he taught us how to defend ourselves and when the time came I was more than ready to go with him, even suspecting that Voldemort might be there, that didn't matter, what mattered was that Harry was preparing to go, and I wouldn't let him go alone. You know what happened there, but none of you knows how I felt. You all thought that I was afraid, that what had happened had scared me, no matter how many times I said that I wasn't, you didn't believe me. But the truth was, that I was angry, frustrated, I had never felt that weak. And I hated to feel that way. Then I got Harry's letter, and the only thing I thought about was that my brother needed me, so, without even thinking about it, I went. About an hour later we were all together, and they understood what you didn't."

Harry continued, seeing that Ron needed a moment to get himself back together, besides, this part of the conversation would be better if it were explained by him.

"I don't know if Dumbledore told you, but the prophecy that you were protecting in the Department of Mysteries was about me and Voldemort. Dumbledore told me what it said after Sirius' death, it basically says that Voldemort and I are destined to kill each other, either I kill him, or he kills me, it's as simple as that. As I had no intention on sitting there and letting Voldemort kill me I asked Dumbledore if I would receive training, considering I had to go up against a Dark Lord that had several decades more than I of experience and knowledge, receiving training was the most logical thing that I could think of. Dumbledore didn't think that, in his opinion everything I needed to win was my capacity to love. I, naturally, explained this to my siblings and they spent several minutes giving several examples of how I could kill Voldemort with love; some of the favorites were sending him a box of chocolates on Valentine's day, with a sincere love declaration, and he would die chocking on said chocolates when he saw my sincere declaration, another option they liked a lot was that in the middle of battle, I would run to him and hug him and I would look him in the eyes and say, with my voice filled with emotion and love, ' _I love you_ ' and he would implode or his mind would self destruct while it tried to process the information, another one that they believed was also likely to work would be: he and I would go to bed, we would make love and during the act his heart would stop, considering that he isn't that young anymore it could happen.

As you can see none of us had much faith in that ' _power of love_ ' spiel.

After they calmed down Hermione said that there was only one option, and started to make a list of things that we needed to learn, to train. The dark arts... it wasn't that difficult of a decision to make. It is a war we can't afford to lose and though we knew that many people we know probably would never accept it, we had each other, we would never be truly alone, we would support each other, and that won over any fear we may have had about the dark arts.

Everything we did, every options we took, every choice we made was what we needed to do to survive, to make sure that we had a chance of winning, to make sure that no matter the choices we made we would never be alone."

For several minutes nobody said anything, they knew that it was a lot of information to think about, but a lot of what they had heard left them stunned. They knew there was a prophecy, they suspected what it said, but having Harry confirming it in such a blase way was difficult to process, it was as if he wasn't the least bit worried. But Bill had to agree with the teens, he doubted that Harry would be able to kill Voldemort with love.

The first that broke the silence was Mr. Weasley.

"If you don't mind, Molly and I would like to talk to Ron alone."

Ron got up and smiled at his brothers.

"Of course, come with me, the library has a few couches in the back."

The others didn't seem like they had all their thoughts organized, sympathizing with them, Hermione and Neville took them to the kitchen, where they could have a cup of tea so they could calm down. And that's how Bill found himself alone with Harry, who was focused on his book and didn't appear to be paying him any attention.

Bill on the other hand had thousands of questions he wanted to ask, though he didn't know how to ask them, he didn't even know if Harry would answer. Harry's soft voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"If you have questions you can ask them, I don't bite." Harry said with a small smile and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and Bill had to wonder why those eyes always managed to gain his attention.

"I... I don't really know what to ask, though I agree with some things, there are others that I just don't understand. And though I think it's impressive I don't think it's possible to improve that much in such a short amount of time. I just don't understand how you did everything, and I know that I may never know, but that doesn't mean that I'm not curious and rather worried."

When Bill finished he sighed, he buried his hands in his long red hair and fell back against the back of the armchair he was sitting on, he looked almost defeated, but he felt so tired and he had been so worried, he hadn't yet had the time to truly feel relief, to truly realize that they were safe. Again Harry's soft voice caught his attention and it had an almost immediately calming effect.

"I understand that you were worried about Ron when we disappeared, and I am sorry for that, but we couldn't take the chance of saying anything, we couldn't risk someone trying to stop us."

Bill looked at Harry incredulously, he thought that he had only been worried about Ron? Bill almost laughed at the situation he was in, but what could he do? Tell him that what had stopped him from sleeping at night when they had been gone had been the thought that he would never again see those eyes that he so adored? However Harry's voice interrupted his thoughts again.

"If you tell me with what you agree with and what you don't understand, I will do anything I can to explain. About getting so good in such a short amount of time, there are two reason actually, the first one is that we trained like hell in every branch of magic that we could find and we gave everything we had to reach the level we are at. Of course we know there is still a lot that we don't know, but we are at war and unfortunately we didn't have time for more. The second reason is that as Lord of the House of Black, I had access to something that permitted us to train in peace, away from distractions, and that was what we needed most."

Bill shook his head, well that gave him almost no new information, but he supposed that it was better than nothing.

"Why didn't you tell anyone anything."

"Aside from what I already told you, I believe it's obvious. You saw Dumbledore's reaction, do you think he's the only one that thinks like that? We don't belong to the Light, but we will never follow Tom. However, the truth is, we do agree with several of Tom's policies and we feared that you would condemn us because of that, especially Neville and Ron. Neville knew that his relatives would never accept it, and Ron knew that the Weasleys had always been light. He was afraid that the family that he so dearly loved would look at him with hate and disdain in their eyes. As I said before, we did what we did to make sure that we would never be alone. We all know what loneliness was like and we didn't want to feel it again."

Harry looked so sad when he said that, that Bill felt an almost overwhelming urge to hug him and never let go, to keep him safe and assure him that he would never leave him, that he would never have to be alone. And even though that was what he wanted to do, he didn't do it.

"Ron will always be my brother, no matter what he chooses to do, as long as he makes those choices for the reasons he believes in and with a clear conscious."

The brilliant smile Harry gave him, made him feel like he had achieved something great, something to be proud of.

"You can't imagine how happy that makes me." said Harry and Bill didn't even try to stop his own smile from growing. If he spent the rest of his life making Harry smile, it would be, in his opinion, a life well lived.

"Hey Bill, would you like to train with us, starting tomorrow? If you don't want to learn dark magic we won't teach you, obviously. But we could teach you how to fight and some curses that could help you in a duel or battle. I would sleep better at night, knowing that you have some more protection. I'm not saying that you're weak or that you aren't a good dueler, nothing like that. I'm just worried, I don't want you to get hurt."

Harry blushed a bit when he said that and Bill felt his breath catch, he would never say it out loud, but he had never seen anything as cute as Harry in that moment. And strangely the idea of learning dark magic didn't repulse him. He trusted Harry and that was enough for him.

"It would be an honor to train with all of you."

Seeing Harry's eyes light up in happiness was all he needed to know that he had given the right answer.

* * *

Ron was a bit nervous, he didn't know how to behave with his parents, so he just sat there and waited for them to start. His mother appeared to be containing her tears and he didn't know the reason, there were so many of them that he didn't know which one to pick. His father on the other hand appeared to be calm and preparing himself for the conversation that was sure to follow and with a long sigh it was his father that took that first step.

"When you told us yesterday that you were a Potter, that you had left your family, the only thing that I could think of, was that I had failed as a father. I just couldn't understand how or why you had done it. Today, after watching your training, I started to understand, and I know that you would never be who you are now if you were still a Weasley, and I would never ask one of my sons to be something that he so obviously is not. After hearing everything that led to that decision I can say that I understand your reasons, I may not agree with all of them, or with all your choices, but I understand and accept them. Even if you are now Ronald Nero Potter, you are still my son. And I am proud of you."

It took Ron a few moments to understand what his father was telling him, but when he did, he couldn't help himself, he hugged his father. He was happier than he thought possible for not having lost his father. Molly wasn't able to contain her tears anymore and started sobbing.

"You are all so young! Why do you think you have to get involved..." she muttered, while she tried to stop her tears.

Ron let go of his father and looked his mother in the eyes.

"When the Death Eaters are torturing us to death they don't worry about our age. This is my choice, it wasn't something that I choose lightly and I know perfectly well that I can die on a raid, though if that happens it's alright, it's a price I'm willing to pay for our freedom, besides, if I die, I can always see them again on the other side."

His parents just hugged him. They may not agree with all of his choices, they may not like the path he had chosen, but in that moment they were certain that their son was a man that they were proud of.

* * *

Meanwhile Hermione and Neville where in the kitchen with the twins, Ginny and Remus. There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence. Even Fred and George that usually found a way to break the tension where silent. Generally, they weren't dealing all to badly with the situation, they knew that they could have had much worse reactions, but the continued silence was leaving them a little on edge. Not being able to deal with the tension anymore Hermione broke the silence.

"If you have any questions, Nev and I will do our best to answer them."

Even so, it took about two more minutes before any of them said anything.

"I would like to know why you didn't tell me anything. Why didn't you take me with you? Do you think I'm not trustworthy?" Ginny looked so sad, so lost, that it almost broke their hearts.

"It's not like that Ginny," Nev ended up answering, "It wasn't a decision that we spent the summer planning. Harry needed us and we went, the only thing we thought about was that he needed us, we didn't worry about anything else. The adoption wasn't planed, but considering the decisions that we had made moments before about our training, it was a logical choice that helped us in several ways. And we didn't call anyone else for the training and didn't warn anyone because it was a risk we couldn't take. If the letters had been intercepted by either side, it would have been disastrous.

You know that the Order would have tried to stop us. Besides, you saw how we fight, to fight like that you have to sacrifice something, and to be honest we didn't know if you were ready to do it. What we did was intensive training, now we can train you if you want and only in the fields that you want, without you having to go through what we did. As a matter of fact, anyone of you is welcome to train with us. You can train with us following our normal schedule, or in the afternoons, when we usually have ' _free study_ ', it's when we study branches of magic that we like or find interesting."

"What would I have had to sacrifice?" asked Ginny, her voice no louder than a whisper, she had the feeling she knew what it was, but she needed to hear it from them, however after seeing them fighting she didn't really have any doubts about what it was.

"Your innocence, your teenage years, your carefree spirit... take your pick." Hermione's voice was soft, but even so, she managed to convey the seriousness of what they had been through.

Ginny nodded. The four of them had sacrificed those things, so that others didn't have to. She was grateful for that, but she was sure that many of their friends and colleagues would still like to help, especially if the war reached the point that Harry and the others were thinking.

"Well, I would like to help in any way that I can, and I was always interested in Healing." Ginny ended up saying, a smile on her face.

Neville laughed. "You're in luck dear Ginny, Mione and  
I have a rather deep knowledge about Healing. It will be a pleasure to teach you."

Ginny smiled, even if they wanted to preserve some of her innocence, they weren't pushing her aside, quite the opposite in fact, they were giving her the opportunity to help and feel useful, they were giving her the tools she needed to fight, to contribute to the war effort.

"What about us" Fred started.

"Are we also welcome" George continued.

"To your training?" they finished together.

"You are always welcome, though don't make the decision lightly. We don't use only dark magic, but if you go to all our trainings it will be inevitable, you will end up learning dark arts. Though if you want to do it like Ginny, and only learn something specific, you don't have to come to our training and we will teach in the afternoons. However there is also the option that instead of joining our training, which is at the moment far above your abilities, we could create a schedule like we had at the beginning and start working with that. Like that, instead of plunging head first into the Dark Arts, you will start from scratch, learn the theory and you will be able to make an informed decision about the path you want to take." Hermione explained to them, in reality she thought that the twins would have no trouble in learning dark magic, but she didn't want to force them and this way it was their choice.

Fred and George looked at each other, a whole conversation taking place with just a look, followed by a nod.

"We would like to start with the basic and work our way up from there." they answered in unison.

Neville smiled, "Great, I was hoping that you would chose that one. Tomorrow morning, at six sharp, I want you in the training room, do not be late, we have a lot of work to do."

The twins started to feel a bit nervous when they saw Neville's gleeful expression and the slightly evil smile on Hermione's face, when the both of them started laughing and Hermione exclaimed, "This is going to be so much fun!", well, let's just say that it did nothing to calm their nerves.

"If you want you can also go Remus, I'm sure that Harry would like it if you went." Hermione told Remus, her eyes almost begging him to go. She knew how important Moony was to Harry, but she also knew that the werewolf had a very big aversion to dark magic and they didn't know how he would react, but she hoped that he would accept Harry just the way he was.

"I appreciate the invitation Hermione, but I need a day or two to take all this in. It was such a drastic change and so sudden too, that it took everyone by surprise. But if after that you still want me..."

Neville smiled, he knew that Harry would be happy if he didn't lose Remus.

"You are always welcome. You're family." answered Hermione with a smile, happy that Harry hadn't lost the last link to his parents.


	12. Never said we were Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
> 
> Warnings: Violence and death, though nothing explicit. Slash.

********** ** ** **

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Never said we were Light**

The following morning Bill was rather surprised to see his twin brothers joining him in front of the door to the 'training room'.

"What are you doing here?"

"The same as you." they replied.

Bill shook his head, a small smile on his lips. He should have known. The twins loved Harry. He had no doubt that the twins would fight the Dark Lord himself for Harry. He knew that he would do the same. He was sure that they wouldn't be the only ones, there was something about Harry that made people trust him, that made them want to follow him, even if he was leading them to Hell.

The arrival of the four siblings interrupted his thoughts. They greeted them with a small smile and told them to follow. As soon as they were in the middle of the field Harry called them over to one side and a barrier went up, dividing the field in half. Harry, the twins and he on one side, Hermione, Ron and Neville on the other. The other three ignored them completely and started running like the previous morning. Harry took out his wand, conjured a round table, four chairs and sat down, inviting them to do the same.

"Well," started Harry when they were all seated, "We were talking yesterday, to see what was the best way to incorporate you in our training, and we thought that the best option was for every day one of us to be your personal trainer. The four of us will train you in the dark arts, practical as well as theoretic, and physical resistance, you will have to have far more stamina to be able to get through the training. Aside from that we will also train you in specific fields that are our strongest points, for example, Hermione will teach you healing magic, Ron prefers conjurations and battle spells, while Neville likes rituals that can be used in battle and I'll teach you wandless magic.

I'm not going to lie to you. It is going to be tiring, you will get hurt and by the end of the day you will be ready to crawl back to bed while cursing our names, but I guaranty that it will be worth it.

And at night, if you want to, we will teach you occlumency, legilimency and how to become an animagus, though in one month we won't be able to do much in those particular subjects.

Your training will start at 6am and will end at 10pm.

It won't be easy, but you will be far better prepared for when the war really starts. However, it is your choice, we won't make you do anything."

They were silent for several moments. Truthfully Bill knew that he was going to say yes, he just hadn't expected to have an actual schedule, and from what Harry had said it would be torture, but still he had every intention of doing it. Looking at his twin brothers he saw a look full of determination and he knew their answer. Looking at Harry he gave him the answer that he knew he was going to give from the beginning.

"When do we start?"

Harry laughed and got up from his chair, he pointed in their direction and the table and chairs disappeared, catching them by surprise and making them land on their butts. Harry laughed again and with a snap of his fingers, their clothes changed to something similar to what Harry was wearing.

"We start now." Harry answered with a smile that all three brothers swore was slightly sadistic.

* * *

 

The following month was the most tiring month the Weasley siblings had ever had. On the second day of training Charlie joined them. After Bill had told him what they were going to be taught the older Weasleys had to admit that everything that Harry said they would be learning was useful. However, no matter how useful it was, that first week they were sure that they had died and gone to hell.

From 6am till 2pm, the training was the same no matter which Potter taught them, they started running at six, from six thirty till seven they ate something, then they started on the dark arts. It was one hour theory, followed by one hour practice, and so on and so forth, till one pm. Then they had lunch and after that they would spend the afternoon with the Potter assigned to them for the day. It went from 2 pm till six thirty, then they would have a small break, then they would start dueling practice, where they dueled against the same dummies that the Potters had used, till seven thirty. When they were finished for the day, their trainer would sit down with them and tell them what they could improve in their dueling, what they had done well, what they needed to learn so that things could work better next time and telling them what they could have done to avoid losing, because for the first two weeks they did nothing but lose. Harry admitted that they had set the level of the dummies above their level, he said that they were around an inner circle Death Eater or an auror of Moody's caliber, that it would be the easiest and fastest way for them to learn, that they would learn from their mistakes. However the siblings changed the dummies level and skill every training, so that they wouldn't get used to just one type of enemy. It was hard, and more often than not they ended that part of the training with bruises and cuts, and in some cases even a broken bones, but it was effective and they were short on time. After dinner they would work on their animagus transformation and the mind arts.

All in all the Weasley brothers had never been more tired but they admitted that they were much better prepared than they had been a month before.

After the first week Remus started to attend the training, he never participated but he was always present. In the afternoons when they were in the library he stayed with them, spending most of the time with Harry, either talking or reading a book while Harry studied. He never said anything about the dark arts books that he saw Harry reading, however his silent support meant more to Harry than what the werewolf knew and Harry was happy to have someone outside of his siblings to support him and stand by his side, regardless of the choices he made.

Neville spent most of his afternoons teaching Ginny healing magic. Even if several things were far above her skills, Ginny appeared to have a natural talent for healing potions, which Neville focused on.

Before they knew it the last month of their vacation was over, and on the night before they all went back to Hogwarts the four Potters were in the library talking about what the new school year would bring, how people would react to the obvious difference in them. However the thing that was most on their minds was the DA and if they should continue with their lessons and if they did how would they do it.

"We could separate the DA in several smaller groups." Neville ended up suggesting.

"Yes, it isn't a bad idea. We could have a group like last year, where we teach anyone that is interested and only general things. But if there is anyone who wants to learn something different, like Fred and George, we could have a different group." Ron agreed.

"Yes, but we need to make sure that we aren't betrayed, I have no wish to train future Death Eaters. We should have a magical contract, something like we had last year, but better. Something along the lines of being loyal to the group and not be a part of any other organization, of course it would have to be far more specific than that, but you know what I mean. Do you have any ideas Mione?"

"I don't know, I will have to see what I can find about magical contracts and the like Harry. I don't have all that much information about that, I will look through our books tomorrow. I also think we need another name, theoretically we aren't Dumbledore's Army anymore, besides our new beliefs aren't something that Dumbledore approves of."

"That's true," Ron muttered, not able to keep back a yawn, "We'll see that tomorrow, alright? I'm dead on my feet, and you know that tomorrow is going to be stressful."

"Yeah, you're right. It's almost midnight and we did wake up at five."

"Let's go than?" Neville asked looking at his siblings.

"You go ahead, I'm going to pack a few books to read on the train tomorrow. Good night."

"Alright, good night Harry." his brothers gave him a hug and Hermione a kiss, leaving him in the library surrounded by books.

* * *

 

That was how Bill found him almost an hour later. Bill had been in the room he shared with Charlie trying to sleep. However, even though he was exhausted from the training, he couldn't fall asleep.

He had been turning in his bed for the past two hours, but he just couldn't sleep. He knew why he was being kept awake, but knowing the reason in no way helped him in solving the situation, on the contrary, in this particular case it only made it worse.

What was stopping him from sleeping was the fact that the next day Harry would be going back to Hogwarts.

In the past month Bill had gotten used to seeing Harry every day, he had gotten used to speaking to him every time he wanted, he wanted to talk to him every time he could. He could also observe him whenever he wanted, he admitted to himself that he could spend hours just looking at Harry and he would not tire of it. Occasionally he swore that Harry was looking at him as well, but that was absurd, why would Harry be looking at him? Either way it was frustrating to be so close to him but still feel worlds apart, and it may be the late hour that was making him far more dramatic than he usually was, but he had absolutely no idea what to do about the whole situation. And the next day his Harry would go back to Hogwarts, which didn't help him at all.

With a frustrated sigh he got out of bed, he would go to the library, maybe if he read one of the more dry books in there sleep would finally claim him.

As soon as he entered the library he stopped because the boy that consumed his thoughts was sitting by a table surrounded by books. Harry must have heard him because he look in his direction and smiled.

"Hey Bill." in Bill's, admittedly biased, opinion Harry's voice was the most wonderful sound in the world.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping? You have to be up rather early." he asked, sitting on the couch beside Harry.

It may have been just his imagination but it looked like Harry blushed a bit.

"You're right, but I can't sleep." Harry confessed with a small shrug.

"Is something wrong?" Bill's worry was clear in his voice, he knew that Harry could take care of himself, and even if the rational part of his brain knew that a big part of him just wanted to take Harry far away from all this, keep him safe and make him happy. He knew it was completely irrational but he just couldn't help it.

"Not really," Harry answered, leaning back on the couch, "I'm just a little wary of going back to Hogwarts. After everything that happened, worrying about classes just seems so worthless, you know?"

Bill almost smiled, the fact that Harry trusted him enough to speak with him about something that upset him, that he was so open with him was something that made him quite happy, however what he said almost broke his heart.

"I wish things were different," he ended up whispering, locking Harry's eyes with his, "I wish that you, all of you, had no bigger worries than your classes. When I was your age my biggest concern was if the person I liked, liked me back. We were so childish compared to all of you. Sometimes I wonder how you manage to get through all of this without losing yourselves."

A sad smile appeared on Harry's face and he seemed to age in front of Bill's eyes, those eyes were far to old to belong to a sixteen year old.

"Who said we didn't?"

"What do you mean? Sure you are more mature but you are still you, aren't you?"

"We lost who we could have been to be who we are. We stood against Voldemort for the first time when we were eleven. At eleven we were ready to die, we knew we could have died, but even knowing that we still went, we still fought. As the years went by we saw justice and truth being put aside for stories that were more convenient for those that were in power, by people that were supposed to be fighting for us. We saw those that are in positions of power use and abuse those same positions, delighting in what they could do against those that couldn't fight back. Tell me Bill, would you be the same person if you had seen all of that before you even turned sixteen? We changed, we lost a part of ourselves, we sacrificed our teenage years, our innocence to what is right, to do what had to be done, to do what the adults should have done. We lost ourselves, we became what you see now. Ron Weasley doesn't exist anymore, neither does Hermione Granger nor Neville Longbottom, and me, well I'm not the Gryffindor golden boy anymore either. We don't regret the choices we made, we believe we made the right ones, I just hope that by the end of it we are proven right."

Bill sat in silence, trying to process everything that Harry told him, he stayed that way till he did something that surprised them both, he leaned towards Harry and hugged him.

"I don't think we will ever be able to express how grateful we are for everything you did," Bill whisper with his face buried in Harry's hair, "When I told you that I wished you didn't have to deal with all of this, it's the complete truth, however a part of me, an extremely selfish part of me, is happy that you have to do it, because otherwise you wouldn't be the person you are now, as you said, and I really don't think I could live in a world where you don't exist, at least where this version of you doesn't exist."

For what seemed like an eternity, they didn't move. Then Bill felt Harry's arms wrap around him, he felt Harry's body mold against his. He felt Harry hold him as if he was a lifeline and he could do nothing but tighten his arms around Harry, delighted with the feel of Harry's body against his, overjoyed to have Harry in his arms.

They didn't know for certain how long they were there, but when they separated and went to their rooms, they had one of the best nights of sleep in a long time. One dreaming about strong arms that made him feel safe, and the other dreaming about green eyes that set his soul alight.

* * *

 

The next morning was as chaotic as all the previous years before they went to platform 9 and ¾. Because of the supposed risk that the journey to the platform involved the Order had several members available to accompany them. Kingsley, Remus, Tonks, Moody and Bill, aside from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, had all volunteered. Harry didn't think that it was a good idea for so many to go with them, the bigger the group the easier it would be to spot them, however, as usual, Dumbledore ignored his opinion. Not wanting to cause problems that early in the morning Harry just nodded and joined his siblings.

When they arrived at King's Cross they were immediately surrounded by a crowd. It appeared that most of the people had waited till the last possible minute to go to the platform. Hundreds of students and their parents were still on the platform, saying one last good-bye till Christmas break.

No matter how similar to the previous years it was Harry was able to see the slight difference in the atmosphere. It wasn't anything big, but to those paying attention it was easy to see that the joy usually felt in that moment was stained. There was an air of worry around the families, mothers and fathers hugged their children more than once and just a little longer than usual, their fear for the future visible in their eyes when they held their children. Most of the older students were more somber, many of them had lost someone in the previous war and they knew that it was something that could happen again. Even though they were doing everything they could to appear normal, the tension in the air was undeniable.

Mrs. Weasley was giving Ginny one last hug when chaos erupted.

Harry turned around just in time to see the wall beside the entrance to the platform be blown up and Death Eaters starting to invade the platform trowing curses left, right and center. When the first person fell to an ' _Avada Kedavra_ ' the frozen shock in which most people had been was broken and panic took over.

Since the explosion till the first death no more than a few seconds had passed, Harry had seen it all as if it was in slow motion, but when the body hit the ground he snapped out of it and took control of the situation.

"Neville," he shouted, "Shield, now!"

Just a few moments later a huge earth barrier, that went from one end of the platform to the other was between them and the Death Eaters.

"Thirty seconds Harry!"

"Right, _Sonorus_ ," whispered Harry pointing at his throat, "EVERYONE, GET INSIDE THE TRAIN. QUICKLY! _Quietus_." he whispered again, canceling the spell, "Mione, I want you in that train, raise as many shields and wards as you can."

"Fifteen seconds Harry!"

Not losing any time to see if Hermione was doing what the told her he turned towards the Weasleys.

"I want you to go from compartment to compartment and tell those inside that know how to, to raise shields inside the compartments."

"Harry..."

"There's no time Bill... Go!"

"Five..."

"We will..."

"... Four..."

"... give you as much..."

"... Three..."

"... time as we can."

"... Two..."

"Get ready!"

"... One."

The following moment the barrier crumbled and curses flew every which way. It was painfully clear that the numbers were against them, even with some parents helping in any way they could.

Harry, Ron and Neville didn't lose any time and tried to attract their attention, hoping to give the students enough time to run to the train. They attacked the Death Eaters as one.

" _Expulso_!" they shouted in unison, their curses hitting the middle of the Death Eater force and causing an explosion that left around twenty of them out of the fight. Some of them would never wake up again, but they couldn't think about that. After they made it out of there alive they would think about having taken a life, about having killed someone, at the moment though they could think of nothing but the fight.

The moments that followed were pure chaos, none of them knew exactly what happened. They had no time to think. They were plunged in a deadly dance consisting of dodging, blocking and attacking. However, no matter how good they were, the superior number of the Death Eaters were something that they knew they wouldn't be able to overcome.

"Nev for how long will you be able to maintain the barrier?" Harry asked, blocking a curse and finding a bit of shelter behind a partially broken pillar.

"With all of them trowing curses at it? A minute, minute and a half, at most." Neville replied, stopping at his side.

"Better than nothing. It will have to do. Go!"

Neville nodded and took a deep breath.

" _Terra Movis_."

As soon as the barrier was up Harry lost no time, he knew how hard it was to make that earth barrier, and how difficult it was to maintain.

"Ron, go help Mione. I want that train as safe as possible."

Ron didn't even nod, he just ran to the train, and even before he entered they saw him starting casting several charms.

"Moony, Tonks, Kingsley and Moody take the injured and help them inside the train, we have about a minute. Moody as soon as you are on the train go tell the driver to go. We can't stay here, we risk losing the train. You three, I want one of you in different carriages, as there are only three of you try to be spread evenly over the train, reenforce the shields and prepare yourselves for an attack." when he stopped talking and the four of them were still standing there he ended up shouting, "Move it! We don't have time!"

That made them move surprisingly quickly and Harry turned back to Neville.

"As soon as we are on the train I want you to look after the injured. How long?" Harry asked looking around, there were still some people on the platform, some were helping others that were to hurt to move, while others were standing by the doors, their wands raised. Harry tried not to look at the bodies that were spread across the floor, he knew that they didn't have the time to see if everyone of them were actually dead. If they risked that it was more than likely that they would lose the train and there would be even more casualties.

"Fifteen seconds, at most."

That's when they heard the train's whistle, signaling that it was ready to leave.

"Right, let's go."

Running towards the train, they made it to the last carriage just in time, as it started moving the second they were in. Just a few seconds later the barrier fell and Harry raised a shield around the train, reenforcing those already present. The train shook with the force of the curses that the Death Eaters threw against it but, fortunately, the shields held. The train took another battering of curses and then, finally, they were leaving the platform. When a minute went by and there were no new attacks, Harry sighed in relief, it looked like the Death Eaters were not going to continue their attack.

All in all the attack hadn't taken more than ten minutes, but to him it had felt like hours. And now, now they had to deal with the aftermath.

Harry looked around, not the least bit surprised to see that Neville was already going from compartment to compartment looking for injured people. Seeing that his brother had everything under control he went to the next carriage, to see if he could find his other siblings or the Order members, while seeing if he came across injured people. The first compartments only had some people with small injuries, a few scratches and nothing more, however their fear was palpable. When he reached the last compartment of the carriage he found Mr. Weasley with a group of children that didn't look older than twelve and were terrified.

"Harry!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley, relief evident in his voice.

"Mr. Weasley, is everyone alright here?"

"Yes, considering the circumstances. I had to leave the others," lowering his voice he continued, "They don't know where their parents are and the parents of that little boy," he said, discretely pointing at the blond boy sitting by the window looking lost, "They're muggles... Do we know if they attacked the other side of the barrier? He was already on the train, but he says that his parents left mere moments before the explosion..."

"Right now we know nothing," Harry replied, his voice just as low, "I don't even know if all the bodies that I left behind were in fact dead. My priority was to get the train out of there."

Mr. Weasley had an unusual somber expression, no doubt remembering similar situations from the first war.

"No one likes to make those choices, no one wants to make them," he ended up saying, "You did what you had to do."

Harry nodded, he knew that it was impossible to save everyone. But he knew that if there had been anyone alive amongst the bodies that he had left them to their death.

"I'm going to look for the others. Can you stay here with them? I'm not expecting them to attack the train, but I would rather not risk it."

"Of course. When you see Molly tell her everything's alright." Harry nodded and left the compartment.

In the following carriage he found several DA members, they were spread through the compartments. Harry was proud to see that they had divided themselves amongst younger students and children that weren't old enough to go to Hogwarts. Harry talked with them, asking them to continue what they were doing, and to write down the name of the children that were there. The DA were a bit surprised at first with his new looks, but after they made sure that he was in fact Harry they did as he had asked. Some of them didn't know where their parents were either but they preferred to keep themselves busy, not wanting to linger on their own thoughts.

"Harry!"

Hearing his name he turned around and came face to face with Ron.

"Hey, did you see Mione?" Harry asked, walking towards him.

"Yeah, she's with Bill in the next carriage. There are a few DA members there as well, I've been looking through the compartments. There are e lot of injured people there. The DA are trying to keep the younger ones calm, especially those that can't find their parents and those that saw their parents get hurt. It's... It's complete chaos mate."

Harry sighed, he knew they were in over their heads. They had never dealt with anything like this. However there was no one coming forth to take control of the situation so they didn't really have much of a choice but to continue to do what they had been doing.

"Alright, this is what you'll do. Go through this carriage and in each compartment that you find someone to heal, put a red mark on the door, something that either Mione or Nev will be able to identify. After this one, look through the other compartments in the other carriages. Nev is already looking in the last two so you don't have to worry about them. While you are doing that tell the members of the DA to write down the name of the children they have with them, better yet, of everyone in the compartment with them. That way it will be easier to find someone. When you see your mum tell her that your dad is with some children in the previous carriage. Alright?"

Ron just nodded and started doing what Harry told him. Harry took a deep breath and went to the next carriage. He found Hermione and Bill in the corridor near the last compartment, both looking grim and with their wands in hand. In a small group beside them were Moody, Remus, Tonks and Kingsley, they appeared to be discussing something so Harry let them be and focused on Hermione.

"Mione, cancel the shields and wards that you have up."

His voice made the other five focus their attention on him, but he didn't look at them.

"I need you to go to the carriages back there and start healing the injured. I already told Ron to mark the doors of the compartments with injured with a red mark. The DA that are in the compartments are already writing down the names of the people that are in the compartment with them. Neville is already healing those in the last two carriages. After we have all the lists, with the names, ages, compartments and carriages written on it, we will go through the train to tell the parents where their children are, or to tell the children where the parents are. I've been telling everyone to stay inside their compartment to avoid even more confusion. If you see someone panicking or causing trouble or trying to leave the compartment, stun them, alright?"

"Yes, where will we meet?"

"Prefect's compartment in the first carriage, it should be empty. At least not many people know where it is and how to get in."

"Alright... And if there are some that don't make it?"

"Put a stasis spell on them, we'll see when we reach Hogwarts. Now I'm only trying to put some order in this mess."

"Right." and giving Harry a quick hug she left to do what he had told her.

Someone clearing their throat brought Harry's attention back to the others. Now that the adrenalin had passed, everything that had happened became far more clear. He could hardly believe that he had basically ordered Tonks, Moody, Remus and Kingsley around. He hadn't been thinking about ordering them around, he had just acted, done what he thought was logical. Only now did he remember that they were aurors, Order members, and they probably didn't appreciate being order to do anything by a sixteen year old.

Taking a deep breath he look them in the eyes, half expecting them to scold him. However instead of the angry mutterings he was expecting he saw them looking at him with such intensity that it almost left him speechless, and something in their eyes that he could only identify as respect. And if that wasn't enough, Kingsley said something that only his mastering of occlumency stopped him from gaping.

"What do you want us to do now?"

Harry could hardly believe what he had heard, these people, that he respected and admired, were asking him what to do. It was overwhelming. However he couldn't think about it, he couldn't lose it now, there was still much to do. So, as calmly as he could and with all the authority that he was able to, he gave his orders. He had no idea if it were the rights ones, but to him it were the things that needed to be done.

"Remus, go to the last compartment in the last carriage, turn that to something like an infirmary. We can put the gravely injured or the dead in there. It's a long trip, there is no need for children to see all of that, it would be torture for them to see their friends or family members like that. Tell everyone that is in that compartment to go to the next one. If any of the adults doesn't want to leave tell them what you are doing, if even after that they refuse, stun them. As I told Mione, we don't need any more problems.

Tonks, I want you to go to the first carriage, start with the first compartment and write down the name of the children that are alone, just like I told Mione the DA are doing. But as the DA have to stay in their compartments they can't do the whole train. You can also ask in every compartment if there are any members of the DA inside, and ask them to do it, tell them I asked it if you must. It may make it easier for you.

Kingsley, I want you to do the same as Tonks, though you will be asking the parents. After that I want you to go to the last compartment, where Remus will be setting the infirmary and see who the gravely injured and the dead are.

Moody, we have to be sure that no Death Eaters are on board. It would be disastrous if there were, they could decide to see what sort of damage they could cause before they were caught. Look for marked ones, if they are marked, I don't care if they are students, stun them. If you see anyone causing trouble, stun them as well, we have more than enough on our hands."

"And what will you be doing?" Moody asked him.

"I'm going to create a ward around the train that stops anyone from entering or exiting the train without my permission. I'm only going to take it down when we arrive at Hogsmead and only if we have a squadron of aurors on the platform along with Hogwarts professors, preferably Flitwick and Dumbledore. I don't want to take any unnecessary risks. That's one of the other reasons why I want you to check for Death Eaters Moody. Imagine that Voldemort has another group waiting in Hogsmead, it would be an ideal time to strike, the passengers are frighten, injured, tired. They would be basically defenseless. Now imagine that, aside from the group attacking from the front, he has Death Eaters amongst the passengers. It would be devastating. If I were in his place, it's something I would do.

When we get there we will send Dumbledore a Patronus messenger, though I doubt it will be necessary, news of the attack must have already spread. Either way it doesn't matter. I'm putting that ward up."

The four of them shared a look that Harry wasn't able to decipher and the next moment they were moving. Harry wasn't sure, but he could swear he heard Moody mutter something about ' _born leader_ ' and Kingsley nodding along with Tonks.

Shaking his head Harry put it out of his mind, he had work to do.

"If you want I can help with the wards. I'm a curse-breaker, wards and the like are my specialty."

Bill's voice calmed Harry down and he couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face when he turned around. Since he was fourteen he had a little crush on the redhead, at the time, after he freaked out, he didn't pay any attention to it, after all it was only a small crush. It had been difficult at first, he had no idea how the wizarding world saw homosexual couples and besides he had always thought that he liked girls, he still found Cho incredibly beautiful and he even had a crush on her. So meeting Bill and crushing on him freaked him out quite a bit. Ron noticed of course and confronted him about his odd behavior. When Harry confessed that he might like boys as well as girls he half expected Ron to freak out as much as him. However Ron was quick to assure him that it was perfectly normal for a witch or a wizard to like someone of the same gender or even both genders. Ron told him the only thing that wizards really cared about was blood, well not everyone it was more the old pure-blood families, and producing heirs. As there were so few wizards and witches around they had found ways to produce children even with their own gender, well, magic found a way at least. Ron told him that his father had said that it hadn't always been like that, but when the number of wizards and witches diminished it became possible. Ron said that most wizards theorized that Magic made it possible so that it could survive. Harry had to admit that he still didn't know how or why it happened but after that conversation his little crush on Bill was nothing that tormented him, he had even thought that he was completely over it.

However when he saw Bill again after those ten years he almost lost his breath. Until that moment, when he went inside the kitchen and saw him sitting there, he had not really realized how much he had missed him. How much he had wanted to see him.

During that month in Grimmauld Place he took all the chances he got to talk to Bill, and more often than he wanted to admit he found himself looking at the redhead.

Naturally his siblings noticed his fascination with that particular Weasley and teased him mercilessly, he didn't really care, it was the truth after all. Bill Weasley consumed his thoughts.

"Thank you. You can help me with the runes. There are two sets. You can take the second set and I'll take the first one, alright?"

Bill nodded and Harry showed him what temporary ward they would be setting up. The two were immersed in their work for the next half hour, when the runes were all engraved, Harry powered and activated both sets and felt the wards go up around the train. The wards weren't unbreakable, but a good curse-breaker would take at least twenty minutes to bring it down, enough time to call for help and to organize their defenses.

"And now?" inquired Bill.

"Now we'll got to the perfects compartment, unless you want to go find your mum?"

"No. I'll stay with you."

Harry smiled, glad that he wouldn't have to be alone. He was still highly strung, he needed someone to keep him focused.

They first meet Moody on their way to the perfects compartment, followed by Tonks and Kingsley. He told them where they were going and for them to meet there. He wasn't sure if they had heard what he had told Mione so it was better to make sure they knew where they would be meeting.

When they reached the compartment they were silent for a while, till Bill got up and sat beside Harry, hugging him.

"You did everything you could." whispered Bill, holding him tightly.

Harry had no idea how Bill knew what he was feeling and in that moment he didn't care. All his emotions, all his doubts broke free and he wasn't able to stop the tears from falling. With his head buried in Bill's chest, his body shaking, he ended up murmuring.

"So many bodies Bill and I saw children there as well and I didn't even check to see if they were alive. I just left them there. If they were alive and died because of it, it will be my fault."

The tears continued and Bill tightened his arms around Harry.

"Listen Harry," Bill whispered fiercely, full of conviction, "You made the decisions that had to be made. I have no doubt that if it weren't for you we would have lost many more people. I don't doubt that it was a difficult decision, and you have no idea how proud I am that you were able to make it. Those deaths were a tragedy, but you did everything to save as many as possible. Unfortunately you won't be able to save everyone. But, please, don't let that consume you. The guilt would end up killing you and that is something I wouldn't be able to live with."

While Bill spoke Harry's tears stopped flowing and he had lifted his head from Bill's chest and was looking into his sky-blue eyes. Harry was able to see that Bill meant every word. He saw honesty, pride, affection, those eyes showed all of it. Later Harry would blame the adrenalin still running through his body for what he did next, but at the moment he could do nothing but lift his hand and touch Bill's cheek, while leaning forward, never taking his eyes of Bill's. When he was so close that he felt Bill breathing against his lips he whispered, "Bill..."

He saw Bill's eyes darken with desire and he barely heard his name being whispered before Bill closed the little distance that was left between them.

When Bill's lips touched his Harry felt his heart stop. He felt his whole body shudder just from the simple kiss. It was a chaste kiss, just a soft touching of lips. But it help so much emotion, that it took his breath away. And before he knew it, before he could do anything, Bill was pulling away. Harry almost whimpered when he felt those lips leave his.

Bill held his face in both hands and Harry opened his eyes, immediately he found Bill's focused on his. Whatever Bill saw in his eyes must have pleased him, because not a moment later a bright smile appeared on his face and he leaned down to kiss him again.

This the kiss was anything but chaste. Harry could feel Bill's desire, his passion and just moments later Bill's tongue was in his mouth, exploring, tasting every inch of it. Bill's hands pulled Harry against him, till Harry was straddling his lap. Harry felt that no matter how close they were, it just wasn't enough, he wanted to be closer. He writhed against Bill not able to stop the moan that passed his lips. Bill actually _growled_ and his hands flew to Harry's hips, holding them tightly and pressing him closer. Far to suddenly for Harry's taste Bill broke the kiss and pulled away, breathing hard and his eyes dilated with lust. Harry looked much the same and he tried to get his breathing under control. Bill took a deep breath and leaned his forehead against Harry's.

"Merlin... Harry..."

"Bill..."

"Dear Merlin, I wanted to do that since you walked in to the kitchen in Grimmauld Place."

Harry chuckled and leaned his head against Bill's shoulder.

"So did I." he whispered, kissing Bill's neck. Bill moaned and Harry felt the grip on his hips tighten.

"I think it's best if you don't do that. I don't think I would be able to control myself. Besides, the others must be coming back."

Harry grumbled a bit, but when Bill kissed him again, making all coherent thought leave his mind, he slid of Bill's lap without complain. He sat beside Bill waiting for the others to arrive.

The first to come back, only about ten minutes later, was Ron. He sat in front of Harry, on the other side of the table that was in the middle of the compartment. He took a deep breath and looked at Harry and they were able to see how tired he looked.

"There were more people injured than we thought," he ended up saying, "More children than what I was expecting. Mione and Nev are doing everything they can, but in some cases they don't have the knowledge or the things they need. The DA gave me these lists."

He gave Harry a few parchments, he looked them over and put them aside, they could do nothing at the moment. After that he explained to Ron the decisions he had made and then they leaned back against their seats, there was nothing they could do but wait.

The next to join them was Moody, who lost no time in giving his report.

"There were no marked Death Eaters on the train. Though a few parents were hysterical, I had to stun them. The students were rather subdued, even the Slytherins weren't causing trouble."

"That isn't a surprise." muttered Ron, gaining questioning looks from Bill and Moody.

"Why do you say that?" Moody asked, sitting beside him.

"Because now they are beginning to understand what it means to have Voldemort back. Now they are starting to understand that it doesn't matter which side you are one, both sides will lose people they care about. They finally understand that their age won't save them, and they will have to chose a side."

"This time there won't be any neutrals," Harry continued, "Voldemort has been waiting for years to achieve his goal, his patience is wearing thin. He won't allow neutrality. Why do you think that he attacked the platform?"

When the older wizards didn't answer Ron shook his head.

"It was a warning," he said, "It was a message, you either are with him or against him. They attacked every house. Pure-blood, half-blood, muggle-born, they didn't care. They were after everyone."

"That's why there is no one marked amongst the passengers, there was no one marked on that platform. His message couldn't be more clear, those who don't have his mark are against him, and being against him is the equivalent to a death sentence. It wouldn't surprise me if there were no attacks on wizards in the next few days." Harry concluded.

"To see if any families approach him. He will probably give them a few days to see if they got the message." Ron nodded, agreeing with Harry's speculation.

Bill and Moody looked at them with wide eyes, they had to admit that it made sense, even if it was speculation on their part. It wasn't something that they would have thought about. It seemed that Harry knew Voldemort rather well and had shared what he knew with his siblings. It was strange, the only other person who seemed to know the Dark Lord like they did was Dumbledore. Even the Order members couldn't even imagine how the Dark Lord thought, how his mind worked. To most of them he was an insane killer, a monster. Terrifying beyond anything they had ever met and they had no wish to know how he thought. It was strange to think that this teens had that kind of knowledge, it made them wonder what else they knew.

The compartment door opened and Kingsley followed by Tonks entered. They both gave Harry their lists and sat down.

"Remus, Hermione and Neville are in the last compartment," Kingsley informed them, "Hermione and Neville are doing everything they can for those that are more gravely injured. Remus is identifying the ones that didn't survive."

Harry nodded and distributed the list between them, he conjured a blackboard where he wrote down the compartments and carriages. Then he divided the space into _Children_ and _Parents_.

They spent the following moments writing down who was where. Then they matched the children with the parents and wrote down the ones that were missing. A few minutes after they had started Remus joined them and gave them the list with the injured and dead. Harry quickly wrote the information down and sighed.

"Alright we have two options," he said, "We either wait till we arrive at Hogsmead and give this information to the aurors, or we will give the passengers the information that we have."

"I think we should take care of it."

"I agree with Ron, at least it will help calm people down." Bill added.

"Alright. Tonks, you'll talk with the children, tell them where their parents are. However warn them that they can't leave their compartments, for safety reasons. If the parents are on the list of casualties or if they are critically injured tell them the truth if they are older, otherwise tell them nothing. Those that aren't on the train, just tell them that they aren't on the train and that we have no other information. Kingsley can you do the same with the parents, or older siblings?"

"Of course."

Picking up the list they left the compartment and Harry sat back down sighing.

"Great start of year," muttered Ron, the others nodded agreeing, "You know Harry, after this I think that the DA will want to start as soon as possible."

Harry nodded ignoring the questioning glances from Bill, Remus and Moody.

"Tomorrow we will turn the libraries upside down. I want to have those contracts done by the end of the week, at the latest."

Not able to contain his curiosity Bill ended up asking.

"What are you talking about? And what are the DA? It isn't the first time that I hear the name but I still have no idea what it is."

Ron looked at Harry, asking with that single look if he could tell them. Receiving a minuscule nod he took a deep breath and answered.

"Last year we had the worst possible teacher in Defense. We couldn't even use magic in class, we only read out of the damn book and it wasn't even a good book. Mione convinced Harry to teach us since he was the best defense student. He agreed and we ended up forming a rather big group. They wanted a name and at the time the Minister biggest fear was that Dumbledore was building an army, so, more in jest than anything else, we called it Dumbledore's Army or DA for short."

"But that doesn't explain the contracts."

"Things changed Remus," Harry told him, "Last year we were basically a study group, there was a spell or another that were stronger, but that was all. So when Cho's friend betrayed us, we lost nothing. But now, especially after that attack, things changed. There were names of DA members on those lists. Do you think they won't want to fight? Do you think they won't want revenge? Though this time we have something to lose, and I have no intention of training future Death Eaters. So _Dumbledore's Army_ will become _Defense Association_ , and it's opened for all the students, as long as they sign a magical contract."

"But for that you only need one contract, not contracts..." grumbled Moody.

"The other contract will be for another group." Harry admitted, not taking his eyes of Moody.

It took only a few seconds for Moody's normal eye to widen and for his magical eye to focus on Harry as well.

"I was right. You are creating a new side," he muttered, "You will send children to battle?"

Harry and Ron shared a sad smile.

"As of today, the names on those lists aren't children anymore, and after we are through with them they will be even less of a child. However we guarantee that at least they will have a surviving chance."

Ron nodded, in a way he hated what they were going to do, but he knew it was for the best.

"It's better this way," he voiced his thoughts, "I can't say that it's a choice that pleases me. But I would rather see them trained and alive than let them preserve their childhood and dead."

The three older wizards exchanged a look. They didn't know what to say. What could they say? A part of them couldn't help but agree, but as Ron had said, they didn't have to like it.

"Albus won't agree." Moody ended up grumbling.

"I'm not asking for permission." Harry replied with a sad smile.

Moody looked at him and nodded, showing that he understood what Harry meant. He knew that Harry would fallow his own path, he knew that the others would fallow Harry and he also knew that although the objective the Order and Harry had was the same, the path that they would take to achieve it would be completely different. And no matter how he looked at it, he was sure that their path would be covered in blood.

They spend the next minutes in silence waiting for Kingsley and Tonks. Harry sitting as close to Bill as possible without sitting in his lap. Bill's arm was around his waist, his hand on Harry's abdomen, tracing invisible patterns.

When Kingsley and Tonks did came back they looked grim.

"This isn't something that I want to do again." Tonks whispered, her eyes downcast.

Harry understood perfectly. It couldn't be easy to give that kind of news. Trying not to think about it, Harry turned his mind to something else. Something just as important, like how to get in contact with Dumbledore. If he wasn't mistaken than there were only 3 hours of travel left, if they wanted for the gravely injured to survive then they would need medical help as soon as they arrived and for that to happen he would need to talk to someone, preferably Dumbledore.

"Do you have any way to get in contact with Dumbledore, aside from the usual?" he asked the Order members.

If he weren't paying as close attention to Kingsley as he was he wouldn't have noticed the subtle tensing of his shoulders. Nor the quick glance he exchanged with Moody. Containing a sigh Harry looked Kingsley in the eyes.

"I know that I'm not a member of the Order," he spoke in a soothing and calming tone, "However if you do have the means to contact him I ask that you give it to me. I may not agree with all of the Order's politics but we are on the same side. At this moment my only concern is to solve this situation as smoothly as possible and to do that I need to talk with Dumbledore."

Kingsley and Moody shared another glance and after a minuscule nod from Moody, Kingsley nodded and took a Chocolate Frog card from his pocket.

"Every member has one of these cards, they are enchanted. They are all interconnected, to speak with a member you just have to say their name. Their card starts to vibrate till the person answers."

Harry had to admit that it was quite an ingenious method and if they were captured it wasn't something that people paid particular attention to.

"Albus Dumbledore." he said, picking up the card.

A few seconds went by before Dumbledore's face appeared. He seemed older than before, and Harry was able to hear several agitated voices behind him. He recognized where the headmaster was immediately, those paintings of the former headmasters were a dead giveaway.

"Harry!" he exclaimed, not able to hide his shock and the voices that he could hear in the background stopped abruptly.

"Hello professor."

"Harry how do you have one of these cards? Where are you? Is everyone alright?" Dumbledore seemed eager to ask more questions, however Harry interrupted him. They hadn't long till Hogsmead.

"Professor, maybe it's best if you let me explain and then ask the questions you deem necessary," when Dumbledore nodded he continued, "The members of the Order that came with us are all alright but, unfortunately, many of those on the platform weren't that lucky. That's why I asked the Order members if there was anyway to talk to you, aside from the usual."

Dumbledore seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a few moments, till something like resignation appeared on his features.

"Very well. What measures did you take? Do you have any ideas for when you reach Hogsmead? I assume that's the reason you wanted to talk to me."

If any of those present found it strange that Dumbledore assumed that Harry was the one in charge they didn't comment on it. It was true after all, Harry had assumed control of the situation as soon as the attack started.

"My priority was to not lose the train. There were to many of them for us to stop, even with the help of a few parents, so the only choice was to retreat and the only way to do that in safety was the train. As soon as the train was secure we left. I created a ward around the train, nothing can get in or out at the moment without my permission, just to be safe. But we have wounded, some in really bad state and no matter how good Mione and Nev are, in some cases they just don't have what they need to save them."

Dumbledore looked grave, the usual twinkle in his eyes completely gone.

"What do you suggest Harry?"

"Portkeys. If you allow for portkeys to pass the Hogwarts' wards, we could send them from here directly to Hogwarts. It's fast and we would avoid panic. We would send the critically injured first and then we would go from compartment to compartment. You could have people waiting for each group. In the first group I will send you lists with the name of the people that are in each compartment and in the case of the parents or children being separated it says in which compartment they are. It also says if they aren't on the train or if they didn't survive. If we do it like that we avoid the confusion that would no doubt happen at the Hogsmead platform. Beside if Voldemort were to attack again that would be the perfect spot."

Dumbledore stayed silent for almost a minute, then he nodded.

"For how many injured do we have to prepare?"

Harry looked at his brother, knowing what Harry wanted Ron raised his voice so that Dumbledore could hear him clearly.

"We have seven in critical state, two of them children with less than ten years. Then we have eleven gravely injured, five of them Hogwarts students, all of those are from fourth year and below. There are a lot of other small injuries but those were taken care of and are nothing to worry about. We have seventeen dead, amongst them two children, both under ten years."

They heard a long sigh coming from Dumbledore's card.

"Very well. I will change the wards to temporarily allow for portkeys to come through. They will allow them through only to the Great Hall, so you should set them to there. I will have Healers ready as well as some aurors to take care of the other passengers."

"Thank you professor."

Dumbledore smiled. It was sad and tired and his eyes had lost their usual life.

"You don't have to thank me. I should be thanking you, my boy. I have no doubt that your actions saved many lives on this day."

Harry just nodded. What could he say to that? He didn't feel that he had done any good. He had left people behind. He may have saved those on the train, but he had killed those that he left behind, even if he wasn't the one to shot the curses that ended their lives.

"We will see you soon professor."

Giving the card back to Kingsley he saw him touch the 'screen' and cut of the connection, before he put the card away.

Harry looked around and saw that he had everyone's attention. Taking a deep breath he gave his orders.

"Ron go tell Mione and Nev to prepare the injured to be transported, then come back here and help with the portkeys," Ron nodded and left the compartment, "We will use parchment to create the portkeys. Divide them into groups so that we are sure that we don't miss any compartment. I'm going to go talk with the driver, I'm going to use the speaker to inform the passengers of what we will do." Not waiting to see what the others did Harry followed Ron out of the compartment.

The others looked at each other for a few seconds till Moody broke the silence.

"Well, we have our orders. Get it done."

A few minutes after Harry left, they heard his voice throughout the train.

"I ask all the passengers to pay attention to the following information. In about an hour an a half we will reach Hogsmead, however I ask that all of you stay in your compartments. When we arrive we will distribute portkeys that will take you directly to Hogwarts. Once you arrive there will be people ready to help you find your families or provide medical assistance if you need it. We are doing everything we can so that things go as smoothly as possible, I would appreciate that you remain calm and wait in your compartments for the person responsible to give you your portkeys to arrive. Thank you."

Ron entered the compartment just as Harry's announcement ended and started helping with the portkeys. Harry joined them a few minutes later, by that time the portkeys were all organized in to seven groups, one for each carriage. Harry gave one to each of them and two to Ron.

"Alright, we will spread through the carriages. We will wait a minute or two between portkeys, so that they have time to organize things at Hogwarts. Ron you have portkeys for two carriages, but the last carriage is Neville's, Hermione will go with the injured and the lists. Ron you will take the on before last. Tonks the following one, then Kingsley, then Moody and then Remus. Bill and I will take this one. About five minutes after Mione, Nev will start handing out his portkeys, when he reaches the last compartment he will send a Patronus to warn the next. You will all go with the last portkey. Don't forget to leave a minute or two between the portkeys. Alright?"

"Fine by me," Ron said smiling, "I'm going to inform Mione and Nev. Hand over the list, please." picking up the lists that Bill gave him and the portkeys he left.

The others stayed where they were, lost in their own thoughts. When the warning came that they were five minutes away from Hogsmead they got up and taking their portkeys with them they left for the carriage they were assigned to.

Harry and Bill were the last ones to leave and as soon as they were alone Harry hugged Bill. Only when the redhead's arms went around him did he feel his body lose a bit of the tension.

"Thank you for having stayed with me." whispered Harry against his chest.

"When you didn't give me any portkeys I guessed that it was your way of asking me to stay." Bill answered with a small smile.

Hearing Harry's chuckle his smile widened. He loved hearing his Harry laugh.

"I wasn't that discreet, was I?" Harry asked, looking at him with his beautiful eyes shinning.

"Not really," Bill answered shaking his head, his voice filled with amusement, "I think they suspected something. Thought the fact that they suspect something might be because you were practically sitting on my lap."

He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Harry's blush. Not having anything to do but wait, Bill leaned against the wall and pulled Harry against him, enjoying having Harry in his arms while he could.

A little over an hour later Remus' Patronus appeared, telling them that he was on the last compartment.

Taking a deep breath Harry pulled the portkeys out of his pocket and went to the first compartment. As soon as he opened the door he had two wands pointing in his direction.

"Where did we meet for the first time to discuss creating the DA?" Colin Creevey's cold voice was heard. He and his brother Dennis were forming a barrier between them and a group of children, they looked no older than twelve.

Harry felt really proud in that moment. The DA members were becoming so much more than what he had thought possible.

"At the Hog's Head in Hogsmead."

The relief on the brothers' posture was evident and they couldn't contain themselves and hugged Harry.

"I have the portkey for you. There will be people available to give you information, alright?" both nodded and took the portkey, telling the younger ones to hold on to the parchment. When they were all holding the portkey Harry continued, "The word to activate the portkey is written on the parchment. Are you all ready? Good, you can activate it."

"Lemon."

And with a low pop they were gone.

There were no more surprises till they reached the last compartment.

When he opened the door he recognized the students inside immediately. Inside were five Slytherins, two boys in his year, Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini and another boy a year above them named Terrance Higgs. With them were two girls also in his year and, if he wasn't mistaken, they were called Daphne Greengrass and Tracie Davies.

However, instead of the cold, closed off expressions they always had they were showing their emotions freely. Zabini and Nott seemed to be more in shock than anything else, but it was still more than what they usually showed. The two girls were crying and hugging each other. The only one who even noticed that the door opened and that he had entered was Higgs, but even he had a desolated air around him.

"Potter." he said, looking at Harry as if he was the answer to all his prayers.

His name caught the attention of the others and they looked at him. Though Nott and Zabini still seemed to be more out of it than the others.

"Higgs," Harry replied calmly, "I have the portkey so that we can go to Hogwarts, we are the last ones." aside from the driver and the trolley lady, but they would be staying in the train till the aurors arrived.

With calm a controlled movements he handed them the portkey. However none of them tried to even touch it.

"Why?" Nott asked after a few moments of silence, "Why did they attack the platform? It was full! Full of children! Why did they attack us? My father is a Death Eater, our family has always been Dark. But my father said nothing about the attack, nothing! And now... now my brother is dead. I saw a Death Eater send a curse his way, I saw the blood and I saw the Death Eater laugh when he saw my brother fall. I was able to drag him in here but there was so much blood and I didn't know what to do. When Granger came, there was nothing she could do, it was already to late. She... she took away his pain. He was only seven, you know? It was his birthday yesterday." for the first time he looked Harry in the eyes and there was so much pain there, so much confusion and so much despair that it broke Harry's heart a little. In a broken, whispered voice he asked again, "Why?"

Harry wanted to tell him that he didn't know, he wanted to tell him that the Death Eaters wouldn't have attacked if they knew who his brother was. He wanted to preserve what little innocence they still had. But he couldn't. The least they deserved was the truth.

"No answer that I give you will be satisfying. But the truth is that they don't care if they kill children, they don't care of they are pure-bloods, half-bloods or muggle-borns. They do what Voldemort tells them and nothing more. Your father probably didn't tell you anything because Voldemort told him not to. For most of the Death Eaters, Voldemort is above their families' well being and they all know that disobeying is a death sentence.

About the attack today, I think it was a warning: you are either with him or against him. And if you don't his mark then you are against him. Though for him all his Death Eaters are slaves, nothing more than cattle really.

The people that died today, that were injured, he doesn't even consider them collateral damage. It can have a purpose but for him it's mostly just to pass his time, a way to have fun.

You must realize that for most of his Death Eaters it's the same. It may not have started that way but after so much time being influenced by him, they start to adopt the same tastes. We suspect that the dark mark influences them to some degree, as time goes by they start not caring about who they kill and torture too."

For several seconds no one said anything. They seemed to be processing what Harry had told. The silence seemed to stretch on forever till Nott broke and started crying. Harry knew that he had lost more than a younger brother.

"The Zabinis have always been neutral..." he too had tears in his eyes but he wouldn't let them fall.

"This war won't have neutrals. Voldemort is tired of waiting. For the wizarding world to survive it will have to fight. The time for neutrality is over.

Come on, if you want we can talk at Hogwarts. I'm available if you need me, but we have to go now. The injured are already at Hogwarts, you can go keep your friends and family company. And you can say good-bye to those you lost. Come."

Slowly they approached Harry, they looked devastated but Harry was glad to see that they hadn't given up. With a small smile in their direction and seeing that everyone was holding the portkey Harry whispered "Bubblegum." and with an almost silent pop they were gone.

* * *

 

The first thing Harry noticed when they arrived at Hogwarts was the low humming of voices. No one seemed to be talking above a slightly louder whisper, however there were so many people around that it was enough to make noise.

He had barely enough time to look around when an auror was in front of him, asking their names, compartment and carriage.

Harry gave him the information about the Slytherins and mere seconds later Daphne Greengrass and Terrance Higgs were being taken to the infirmary by a medi-witch so that they could be with their younger sisters. The auror called another auror and told Zabini, Nott and Davies to follow him. The three Slytherins looked a little weary but followed nonetheless.

Harry in the meanwhile was feeling the stress of the day catching up to him and all he wanted to do was curl up on a couch in the common room. Preferably with Bill beside him, though at the moment he wasn't particularly picky. However he still had things to do, so containing a sigh he turned towards the auror.

"Can you tell me where the Weasleys are? Or Professor Dumbledore?"

"As far as I know the parents are with their children in their respective common rooms. If they aren't hurt or if they don't know where someone is or in the case of someone not surviving, in that case they are either talking with an auror, medi-wizard or in the infirmary. The Weasleys must be there as well. The Headmaster is with the other professors and a few aurors. They are taking care of the children and parents that couldn't found their families on the train. Or in some cases on the platform. They are trying to get in contact with any other family members."

"Alright, thank you. In that case we'll be in the Gryffindor common room. We were the last ones, aside from the driver and the trolly lady who are waiting for the aurors to arrive. I've taken the wards down on the train, so there will be no problem entering."

"Alright Mr. Potter. I'll let the Headmaster know." the auror said, then looking at Harry and losing that professional air that he had previously he bowed his head, "Thank you. My aunt and cousin were on that platform. I know that they made it because of your efforts."

"I wish I could have done more." he murmured with a sad smile and the auror nodded.

"It's something we all wish in these situations."

Nodding Harry grabbed Bill's hand and pulled him towards the stairs that would lead them to the Gryffindor common room. They walked in silence and in no time at all were in front of the Fat Lady's painting, only then did Harry remember that he didn't know the password. However before he could do or say anything the entrance opened.

"Today is an exception dear. There is no need for a password." the Fat Lady said, when she saw his inquiring look.

Harry nodded, thanked her and went inside. As soon as he was in the common room he noticed the difference. Usually the Gryffindor common room was full of life. Now though it was subdued and no one was talking and when they did speak it was no louder than a whisper. Parents were sitting with their children, holding them as if they were going to disappear any moment. In some cases younger students were being comforted by older ones. And finally Harry saw them, by the fireplace were his siblings and the other Weasleys and Remus. For a moment Harry stayed in place just looking at them, thanking every deity that he knew that they were alright.

Bill was the one who ended up pulling him in the direction of their family. Bill sat in the armchair beside the couch his parents were on, however when Harry started to pull away to sit on the other couch beside his siblings Bill pulled him near and sat Harry on his lap.

His siblings, aside from Ron, looked at him with wide eyes. Ron was actually trying to contain his snickers, obviously he wasn't having much success. That didn't help Harry to contain the sudden heat that traveled to his cheeks. That was all that Mione and Nev needed to be reduced to a state similar to Ron's.

Trying to ignore his siblings Harry looked at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, however the huge smile on Mrs. Weasley face clued him in to the fact that, maybe, that wasn't such a good idea either.

He knew that Remus and Ginny were a complete lost cause, so he did the only think he could, he groaned and hid his face in Bill's chest.

"This is all your fault." he grumbled and felt Bill's chest tremble, clearly showing that he was trying to stop himself from laughing.

"Only you Harry," Neville managed to say between chuckles, "Only you would be able to come out of an attack with a boyfriend." Any control that his siblings had was lost and Harry blushed more than he thought possible.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Remus and Ginny joined in the light laughter and Harry couldn't stop the small smile from appearing on his face. Seeing his family, together and happy made the last bit of tension that he been feeling completely disappear. They had suffered many losses and many of his friends would never be the same again, but as long as they could still have moments like these, then they could still have hope.

The little moment of peace was interrupted when the Patil twins came through the entrance. Parvati's eyes landed almost immediately on them and before they could do anything, the twins had Hermione in a bone crushing hug.

With Neville's help Hermione was able to lead the twins to the couch and sit them down. Parvati pulled away from the hug, followed a moment later by her sister.

"I don't even know how to thank you. The Healer said that if it weren't for the treatment that my father received on the train he wouldn't have survived. Now he can get better. It will be difficult, but at least he has a chance. Thank you." And Parvati hugged her again.

"I'm glad I could help," whispered Hermione with a small smile.

Harry smiled as well, though he knew that he had helped people with what he had done, it was completely different actually seeing it.

"Harry."

Harry lifted his head and looked at Padma. He wasn't particularly surprised when he saw the determination in her eyes, the rage wasn't something that surprised him either. However he wasn't expecting to see hope there as well.

"Yes?" he asked rather curious.

Padma looked around, making sure that the other people in the common room were occupied with their own conversations, glanced at the older Weasleys and Remus, and looked at Harry again.

"Will we continue with the DA this year? I saw the three of you fighting. I... I don't want to feel like that again. Weak... Useless..."

Harry noticed that Parvati was nodding, the same look on her face.

"We couldn't do anything," Parvati added, "They were attacking our schoolmates, our friends, our family and we could do nothing."

Harry looked at his siblings and saw that they were thinking the same as he. This was what they had feared. Seeing them nod he looked at the Patil twins again.

"We will continue with the DA, however it is going to be different from what it was before. We will have two groups, the first one is open to anyone, they will just have to sign a contract like last year. The second group is going to be a bit different. You said you saw us fight, well the second group will teach things that will help make you fight like we do. The contract will be a bit different as well, for safety reasons." Harry didn't elaborate more, he didn't want to give more away, at least not without having the proper security in place.

"When will be the first meeting?" Parvati asked, it was more than obvious that she wanted to be part of the second group.

"We will try and have everything ready for this coming Sunday."

Padma and Parvati nodded and a small smile appeared on their faces.

"Thank you," they said together, and seeing Harry's confused look Padma continued, "for giving us a chance to fight."

They got up from the couch and saying good-bye to the other they went up to Parvati's dorm.

Hermione sighed when they were alone again.

"It won't surprise me if many of the other DA members ask you the same question."

Harry nodded, he was tired, but just as he had thought sleeping isn't something that he could do at the moment.

"I know and I have a feeling that even people that weren't a part of the DA will contact us."

"To have them ready for battle we will need time."

"I know Nev. As soon as we have the second group defined we will use Saturday and Sunday mornings," Harry suggested, "If we use the Room of Requirement we will have everything we need and make things easier for us. Aside from that the time we spend together will help build up trust between us."

His siblings nodded and Harry did his best to ignore the way Bill's arms tightened around him.

"We could also use the mornings during the week, before breakfast." Ron suggested, deliberately ignoring the looks that his parents, Bill and Remus send him.

"Yes, we will gain much more time like that and we will be able to continue our own training as well." Hermione agreed, conjuring a quill and parchment and starting to add up the time.

"We have to see how many we allow to join." Neville added.

"It depends on what we want." Harry told them. He didn't know if he was making the right decision in having this particular conversation in front of Bill, Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. But they wanted to trust these people and they needed to know that these people, people that they considered family, would stay with them. They needed to know if these people would abandon them when they saw just how different from the Order they were.

"How so?" Neville asked, wanting to know if they were thinking the same thing.

"Foot soldiers or Elites."

"If we play it right we could have both." Ron ended up muttering with a calculating look that surprised all aside from the Potters.

Hermione stopped scribbling and nodded.

"It could work. We use the DA as foot soldiers. It would be enough to go against Second Circle Death Eaters."

"And the second group would be the Elite, capable of facing against the Inner Circle... Damn, we will need a lot of time to get them to that level." Neville grumbled.

Harry shock his head.

"If we work them hard we will be able to have them at that level around the end of October."

"Harry's right," Hermione agreed, studying the numbers on the parchment, "It's going to be really tiring, for them and for us. But it is doable, we would have to train everyday but by the end of October they should be at our current level."

"So it's decided?"Harry inquired, trying to ignore the way Bill was tensing as the conversation progressed.

His siblings nodded.

"We have till the 31st of October to train an army. When we are done with them the Death Eaters will curse the day that they decided to join Voldemort." Ron concluded with a slightly sadistic smile.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as well as Remus had stayed silent during the conversation, watching as the four Potters made decisions that they knew would influence the war. It didn't go unnoticed that what they were talking about creating was nothing like the Order of the Phoenix. It was much more similar to the Death Eater's structure than that of the Order, however they didn't comment. The four siblings had made it clear that they would fight the war their way. However hearing their plans Remus couldn't help but remark.

"Two months?" he said with slight incredulity, "Do you really think that two months will be enough to train students to the point that they can face Inner Circle Death Eaters?"

The four Potters traded a look and after a moment Harry looked back at Remus and the Weasley parents. The three of them looked a bit incredulous, however there was also a hopeful air around them. It was as if they couldn't believe it was possible, but on the other hand they wanted to believe it very much. Harry guessed he could understand why they had that hope, after all if there were more people that could fight then they wouldn't have to do it alone.

"If you come to one of those trainings, then you will understand why we say that two months will be enough to put them at our current level." Harry ended up saying. He wouldn't tell them about the spell they had that managed to gave them more time, however if they were a part of the training then it would be a completely different matter. They trusted Remus and the Weasleys, but there was no reason to take unnecessary risks.

Remus looked at him for a few seconds and ended up nodding. Harry hopped he hadn't made a mistake.

"I think it's better if we go rest," Hermione said, looking around, "We are tired, it was a long day and tomorrow we will have to be up early. I'm sure that tomorrow Dumbledore will make some sort of announcement at breakfast."

They all agreed, wishing each other goodnight and going to their rooms. The Weasleys and Remus had guest rooms in Gryffindor Tower, so they didn't have to leave the tower to go to bed, though Mrs. Weasley went upstairs to the dorm with Ginny.

Harry was following his brothers when he felt Bill pull him towards his own room. He went without protesting, he knew that there was something bothering Bill and he hoped that Bill would tell him what it was.

As soon as they were inside the room, Bill pushed Harry against the door, and holding him around the waist started kissing him.

Harry was rather surprised, it wasn't really what he had expected. However when he felt Bill's tongue against his lips asking for entrance he surrendered to the feelings Bill managed to evoke in him.

This kiss was different from the ones before. It was more desperate, it was as if Bill was afraid that Harry would disappear the moment Bill let go. Harry had no idea what was going through Bill's mind, however at the moment the only thing he could do was kiss Bill back with everything he was feeling.

As suddenly as he started it Bill stopped. They were both breathless and Harry could feel Bill's breath against his lips. He was able to see the storm of emotions in Bill's eyes. With a hand in Bill's hair and the other caressing his cheek he asked.

"What's wrong?"

Harry kept his voice smooth and calm, even if he was feeling everything but calm. He had no idea what Bill was thinking and a part of him was certain that Bill wanted to end whatever there was between them. Considering that they had been together for a matter of hours it was absurd how much pain the simple thought of it caused.

"Harry..." Bill whispered, his arms tightening around Harry's waist, pulling him against Bill, "I think that I only now truly realized," his voice was just a bit above a whisper, he didn't seem to be able to talk any louder than that at the moment, "I'm not stupid, I always knew that it was going to happen, but I think it was of those situations that I thought: ' _In the future they will..._ '. But now, after hearing you make plans it made me truly realize, you know? My ' _In the future..._ ' became ' _Now._ '. And the thought that you, all of you, are going to face the Dark Lord's Inner Circle terrifies me. Just thinking that something could happen to you..."

Bill had closed his eyes, his forehead was against Harry's and his arms were still around Harry's waist. Harry had no idea what he should say, what could he possibly say? He couldn't promise that nothing would happen, it would be an empty promise. He knew perfectly well that he could die, they all know what could happen. Harry liked Bill to much to make empty promises.

"I can't promise that nothing will happen to me." he ended up saying, knowing that it was the only answer he could give.

Bill took a deep breath and opened his eyes and Harry could hardly believe the number of emotions he saw in them.

"I know," Bill replied, "But at least promise me that you will let me be at your side when you do face them."

"Bill..." Harry wanted to say yes, wanted to promise him, but he couldn't. Bill, as he was now, couldn't fight against someone like Bellatrix and win. However before Harry could say anything, Bill continued.

"I know, I know that if I went against the Inner Circle right now that I wouldn't win. But you are going to train them, I only ask that you train me as well."

Harry was able to see that Bill was determined and he could do nothing but nod. Bill sighed in relief and held him close, whispering in his ear.

"Stay with me tonight. We won't do anything. Just... I just want you with me."

Harry smiled and leaned up, pulling Bill down a bit so that he could give him a chaste kiss.

"Of course Bill, let's go to sleep."

That night, sleeping with Bill's arms around him, not one nightmare interrupted his sleep.

* * *

 

The next morning Harry woke up with Bill's arm around him, and Bill's lips on his neck, leaving small kisses in their wake. Harry smiled.

"Good morning."

He felt Bill smile against his neck.

"Good morning." Bill's voice was slightly husky from sleep, telling him that Bill hadn't been awake long.

"What time is it?" Harry asked, though it was Monday he didn't think they would have classes. But even so he wanted to be early for breakfast. He wanted to see what Dumbledore had to say. Aside from that he also wanted to see his friends and classmates, there were a lot of names on those lists that he recognized.

"Half past seven." mumbled Bill, clearly he wasn't a morning person.

Harry stretched, half past seven, that left him with enough time for a quick shower before heading down with his brothers.

"I better go to the dorm. I got to the get ready for the day and I have nothing here. You and your parents are going to stay here and have breakfast in the Hall, right?"

Bill nodded.

"A house-elf came a little while ago, saying that all guests were welcome to have breakfast in the Great Hall."

"Hmm, let's go then." said Harry getting up. He leaned down to give Bill another kiss, "See you in a bit." and with a smile left to his dorm.

Inside his room he saw his brothers sitting on Ron's bed, both of them talking in low tons, not wanting to disturb their roommates. Both looked at him and smiled at him mischievously and Harry blushed. He knew perfectly well what both were thinking, they would be rather disappointed when Harry told them that nothing had happened.

Looking around he noticed that Dean and Seamus were still sleeping, both had tear tracks on their cheeks and Harry remembered having seen their names on the lists, he just hoped that they were strong enough to move on.

Not making any noise he went to Ron's bed and sat down.

"Good Morning. Should we get ready to go down? I don't want to get there late. I want to see what Dumbledore has to say."

Ron and Neville nodded and they started to get ready. Twenty minutes later they were going down to the common room. None of them were surprised to see Hermione was already there. They were all used to getting up early, though Hermione was, by far, much more of a morning person than them.

The four went to the Great Hall in silence. They were some of the first students to arrive. All the professor were present, some parents were also there and spread throughout the Great Hall were a few students. Harry could almost feel their exhaustion. It wouldn't surprise him if most of those present had spend the whole night up.

All those present looked at them when they got in, and Harry knew immediately that some parents recognized them because as soon as their eyes landed on them, they filled with gratitude.

They felt a bit uncomfortable, they hadn't done it to gain their gratitude, though logically they knew that it was unavoidable. He had to wonder though for how long that gratitude would last. Specially when they saw just what they were ready to do to end the war. Most of the wizarding world always had been incredibly fickle.

They kept their heads high and sat in the middle of the Gryffindor table and started their breakfast. Almost half an hour later Bill, Ginny, the Weasley parents and Remus joined them. The conversation between the nine of them was light, none of them wanted to discuss any serious topic, wanting to prolong the illusion of calm that had spread through the Hall.

About an hour after they had arrived the Great Hall was full, Harry had never see the Great Hall with so many people not even when Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had visited. Harry had seen Dean and Seamus amongst the Gryffindors, both with their eyes red and an air of despair around them. Harry remembered having felt like that right after Sirius died. Lavender Brown had the same air around her, leaning against a women that could only be her mother. It was obvious that the mother was trying to keep it together to support Lavender but her eyes were full of tears. A little bit down the table from them were the Creevey brothers, they had lost all that energy that seemed to be in everything they did. They looked lost, broken. He remembered that both of their parents names were on the list of people not on the train. He assumed that the war had made another pair of orphans.

Looking around Harry saw many other students with that same look. Defeated, broken, hopeless. It was something that he and his siblings had been afraid would happen and it was something that they couldn't allow. If they lost hope this early then Voldemort had already won. If they lost hope, they would lose the war.

Dumbledore got up and Harry focused, maybe he would be able to give them hope, at least to some of them. He was the leader of the Light, that had to count for something.

The little noise that had been in the Great Hall disappeared immediately and Dumbledore addressed Hogwarts.

"In days like these I don't really know what to tell you, considering that I know perfectly well that mere words will do nothing to ease the pain. Yesterday's attack left wounds that will take a long time to heal. I know that none of the lives that were lost in yesterday's attack will be forgotten. I ask you for a minute of silence, to honor those that left us." Harry looked around, everyone had tears running down their faces, some were sobbing, leaning against their neighbors. Even the Slytherins were silent, tears in their eyes. Harry shook his head, so much pain and for what? "Even though yesterday's attack was devastating," Dumbledore continued after the minute was over, "The courage and skill of certain individuals prevented it from being an even bigger tragedy.

I'm talking about four students that as soon as they saw what was happening did everything they could to protect and save the students and their families. I'm talking about Harry James Potter, Hermione Mia Potter, Neville Lerato Potter and Ronald Nero Potter. These four students fought against the Death Eaters, protected the train and took care of the injured to the best of their abilities.

We all know that they didn't do it to be recognized but even so the Ministry as well as Hogwarts want to thank them for what they did. Potters, if you would come up here please." neither harry nor his siblings were expecting that, but they knew that they couldn't refuse. They didn't like the position that Dumbledore had put them in but they knew that the people in the Hall needed hope. If they were able to give them that then so be it. They got up from the Gryffindor table and went to the Head table, stopping in front of Dumbledore. "Nothing that we could give you would be enough to show our gratitude. However I hope that you accept these meddles as a symbol of what we feel."

The four just nodded and Dumbledore opened the little black box that was on the table. Inside were four meddles. They were gold and had a phoenix in flight engraved on the front. In the back was a small inscription. First was the date of the previous day, followed by a small phrase. It said: ' _In honor of Harry Potter, Ronald Potter, Neville Potter and Hermione Potter. Their selflessness, courage and dedication will never be forgotten._ '

It was quite simple, something for which they were grateful.

Lowering their heads they let Dumbledore put the meddles around their heads. When Dumbledore was done they turned around and faced the Great Hall. Trading a look with his siblings Harry made a decision. Instead of going back to the Gryffindor table they stayed where they were and Harry addressed all those in the Hall.

"I am sorry for your losses." were the first words out of Harry's mouth and no one could deny the sincerity that they heard in his voice, nor the sadness that haunted his eyes, "I know how much it hurts to lose someone that is dear to us. I also know what many of you are feeling, though I guarantee there is no reason for you to feel guilty. There was nothing that you could have done..."

"You fought!" a voice in the back of the Hall yelled, though Harry wasn't able to see who it was. Going by their voice it seemed to be a child, old enough to go to Hogwarts but that hadn't reach his teenage years yet. Looking around Harry saw several students, even a few parents nodding, agreeing with the child and Harry almost sighed.

"Yes, that's true. We fought. But we were ready for it," seeing the look that passed several faces he added, "We didn't know that there was going to be an attack, however we were ready in case there was one. We were prepared to fight, we were prepared to die, but above all, we were prepared to kill."

The shock the people felt when they heard that was visible. Harry and his siblings shared another look. That only showed that these people weren't ready to fight in such a battle much less a war.

Almost without his notice Harry's voice changed, it was smoother, more serious and solemn. His posture also changed, he gained a more confident port, he stood straighter. However the most noticeable change were his eyes, the sadness was still there but it was no longer the predominant emotion, weariness and bitterness joined it, however determination and hope shined above all the others. Harry had captivated all those present.

"It's impossible to get involved in a battle like that and not be prepared for those things. If you are worried about not killing the enemy in the middle of battle you will only get yourselves killed or cause the death of a loved one. If you ever get involved in a battle like that you have to be prepared to get your hands bloody. You have to ask yourselves if it is something that you can live with. We fought being perfectly aware of what it would cost us.

If you had fought against the Death Eaters the only thing you would have achieved would be your death," Harry saw a few heads lower and knew what they were feeling. His siblings and he had gone through the same right after Sirius' death, "There is no reason to feel weak," Harry contained a smile when he saw those same heads look at him surprised, "If you had fought you would have died and you would have achieved nothing. You would have only caused more pain to those that survived. Even if you have no reason to feel weak, it doesn't mean that you aren't."

Their shock was again visible, however this time indignation was there as well. No one liked being called weak after all. Though the predominant emotion was shame and that was on what Harry focused.

"There is no shame in admitting that you are weak," Harry continued, ignoring some incredulous looks, "Just because you are weak now doesn't mean you have to stay that way.

Yesterday's attack was an act of cowardice. They attacked because they knew that we were weak. They knew that you didn't know how to defend yourselves. They knew that you would lose hope.

Now you have two choices. You can prove that the Death Eaters were right or you can show them just how wrong they were.

Depending on your choice, that helplessness you feel, that feeling you have that you failed will lessen.

I know it isn't easy. I know there will be days that hope will leave you, but I also know that every day that feeling of helplessness and despair will lessen, till one day it will be nothing more than a memory.

It's your choice."

Looking one last time around the Great Hall Harry started to go to the Gryffindor table with his siblings. The whole, thankfully short, way there they could feel the eyes of everyone on them.

Harry knew that what he had done was risky but the couldn't lose the opportunity. It was true that people were despairing but many of them would want revenge and he knew that most would realize what Harry had offered them. Now, just like Harry had told them, it was their choice.

They were again in their place, finishing up their breakfast when they felt people approach them from behind. The noise in the Hall that had gone up a little was again completely silenced. Curious Harry turned around, feeling Ron do the same at his side.

Behind them were the five Slytherins that had been in the last compartment on the train. Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, Tracie Davies and Terrance Higgs. None of them looked like they had any sleep and they looked sad beyond description. But even so they stood there with their heads held high and a confident port. Harry had to applaud the confidence they were showing.

"We want to thank you," Higgs started, looking at the four siblings, "Your actions saved our sisters. Nothing that we could do would show you how grateful we are."

Daphne had a small smile on her face and was nodding, showing her agreement.

Now they had everyone's attention on them. Harry knew they were waiting for his and his siblings reaction. They were Slytherins after all, it was a well know fact that Gryffindors and Slytherins didn't get along. However before Harry could say anything Nott spoke up.

"We don't want to be weak anymore."

Harry had to control himself to not show his surprise. Discretely glancing at Ron, he saw that Ron was having the same problem. The five Slytherins had offered to fight. They had basically stated that they would fight with Harry, join Harry. They had done it in front of everyone.

Harry was so surprised that he didn't immediately respond.

Apparently he took to long to answer because Nott continued.

"I know that you have no reason to trust us. I'm not going to lie to you and say that we aren't dark wizards, because we are and I know that doesn't inspire trust but..."

When he saw the four Potter stand Nott stopped talking, he half expected to be cursed. The four Potters traded a look. More than one person in the Hall was expecting to see curses flying any minute. They had admitted to being dark wizards after all. However what did happen surprised everyone.

Harry held his hand out, waiting for Theodore to shake it. It took a moment, but slowly Theodore took his hand and shook it.

Harry smiled, and in a voice that carried through the Great Hall he replied.

"We never said we were Light."


End file.
